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Self Mastery 

y BY 

J. ROSS DEAMUDE 



\\ 



THIRD EDITION 
REVISED 

Copyrighted and published 
by the Author. 

1913 — 1922 

Printed in the United States. 

All Rights Reserved 



Special Edition for Students of Applied 

Psychology, presenting the fundamental 

truths for those who seek health, 

inspiration, happiness and 

success 



Away with your man-made laws of God! a 

For they blind the soul to light. "P>f* ^ 

Bury them deep beneath the sod w-* ~* A- 
Till life no longer they'll blight. ,. +" * ^ 

Mankind has ceased to harken 
To that voice which dwells within. 

Therefore man's life is darkened, 
Though innocent seem his sin. 

Behold that power within you! 

Lend ear to the soul and its cries! 
It then will guide and teach you 

When truth you realize. 

Lend ear to the truth! Proclaim the cause! 

Unfold the soul! And learn its laws! 
We're told by Him that we are God's. 

Right here, and now; not when we're clods. 

If Godly powers be in your reach, 
To gratify your heart, then teach 

This lesson to yourselves — this part: 
God does not mock the human heart. 

DEAMUDE 

JUN2472 

©CU677452 



In 

ri 

AUTHORS PREFACE 

TO THE THIRD EDITION 

JUDGING from the contents of nearly two thou- 
sand letters received from all parts of the United 
States, the "Message to the individual" as em- 
bodied in Self Mastery, has found a response in the 
hearts of men and women of all ages. The splendid 
results have far exceeded the greatest expectation. The 
abundance of unsolicited testimony as to the great 
benefit derived, prove conclusively that its message 
is transforming the lives of thousands, and enabling 
them to accomplish what previously was the imposs- 
ible. Modesty forbids my quoting from these 
letters of unexpected praise. 

The growing popularity of the book, and the sur- 
prising results reported seem attributable to two facts : 
the need of such a book, and the fact that the work 
covers a certain field in a manner not attempted in any 

other treatise. 

J. R. DEAMUDE, 
Cleveland, Ohio 
Feb. 1922. 



SELF MASTERY 



CHAPTER I. 



Through Ages of T^arkness, Shines 
Jl Light Eternal 

Self Mastery, expressed in other terms, or at least its 
philosophy, is at once the most ancient as well as the most 
modern philosophy. King Solomon is accredited with say- 
ing that, 'There is nothing new under the sun." Whether 
he was or was not the first to express that thought, it, never- 
theless is true. All things which exist today, always existed 
potentially. 

The great truths presented in the Philosophy of Self 
Mastery are as old as time itself; but as little known to the 
most of humanity as the nature of life at the bottom of the 
sea. Yet the great truths of the creative forces of the soul 
are so well known by a chosen few, whose lives have become 
1 'heaven on earth," as a result of the knowing and living in 
harmony with the secret forces of nature that, some of them are 
found living in paradise, in every city, though in humble homes 
on which fall the shadows of great marble palaces; palaces 
which too often are but gorgeous tombs, or prisons of sorrow 
and remorse; where discord, discontent and sadness reign 
supreme — Palaces of Sorrow. 

The potent message which Self Mastery offers, finds a 
wondrous response today in the hearts of thousands. The 
world is hungering and thirsting for the message it brings 
and especially those who have felt that fate was unkind; those 
whose lives have been filled with bad luck, misfortune; who 
have struggled all through life and have met obstacles at every 



SELF MASTERY 5 

turn, which blocked their progress and dashed their fondest 
hopes into the dust. 

The philosophy of Self Mastery opens a new world to 
all who have been thus unfortunate. It shows the reason for 
the apparent curse which rests upon them, and places the 
powers of Fate in their hands, so that they may shape their 
lives and destinies according to their own design. 

From that other large class of people who, for some reason, 
real or imaginary, have pulled down the curtain of indifference, 
so that they are blinded to the divinely illuminating splendors 
of the Nazarene's philosophy, the Mastery of Self lifts that 
curtain and literally lays bare the soul to one's own gaze, 
and they rejoice in singing a new song, and all life has a new 
meaning. 

The philosophy of Self Mastery breaks the shackles which 
bind one in darkness, and arouse one from that stupor of in- 
difference; reveals his own inherent powers and divine attributes; 
and forever removes the blindfold from self deceived eyes. 
It brings out in bold relief that transfiguring power of things 
Divine so beautifully that one is impelled to halt in the mad 
rush and whirl of the twentieth century grind, and behold him- 
self as an immortal soul ; look upon himself as God looked upon 
man "In the beginning." 

The philosophy of Self Mastery when thus seen, prompts 
the soul triumphantly to cry out against the awful injustice 
which we ignorantly heap upon ourselves; cry out against the 
misery, wretchedness, sorrow and failures we bring ourselves. 
It unerringly points out to us the way which is right. 

It would be unfair and unjust to the subject, however, to 
suppose or expect that a full comprehension of the great under- 
lying laws involved in Self Mastery could be given in one dis- 



6 SELF MASTERY 

course, or one small book, as the "Realizing" requires "growth," 
and that requires "time." 

For more than a thousand years ministers have been 
preaching about, and all around the most beautiful and fas- 
cinating things of life, but have sorrowfully failed to reveal 
the real kernel of truth and life. If they had succeeded in 
revealing the true philosophy, there would be but one great 
religious philosophy instead of several hundred. 

The simpler rudiments of this beautiful philosophy, to 
some extent, is now being seen and felt in some of the churches, 
but owing to the fossilized nature of the church generally, 
the divine philosophy of Self Mastery has had to force the 
clergy to feed the flock something more than "stones" when 
the hearts of men and women are crying for "bread." 

The universal religious unrest, as seen through the world, 
in all the various movements such as Christian Science, Divine 
Science, Telepathic Influences, Magnetic Healing, Spirit Heal- 
ing, Theosophical Movements and the revelations of reincar- 
nation, the revival of Buddhism, and a host of other movements, 
is a "fore-runner" — "The voice crying in the wilderness, pre- 
paring the way," for the unbelieveably wonderful light, power 
and happiness which is about to dawn upon the world through 
the evolution of "divine law"; through the universal realization 
of the individual; of the great God. The voice of the soul is 
heard crying out against power lying dormant in every soul. 
Divine power is being used to mar and destroy the temple, 
and wreck human happiness as a matter of choice. Literally 
to bare these forces to the senses of man is the message which 
Self Mastery brings to all who earnestly seek light as to the 
Mystery of Self, in a spirit of truth. 



SELF MASTERY 7 

The Problem of all Ages 

During all the past ages, of which we have any written 
record, the one great problem which has occupied the most 
serious attention of the brightest minds, and mightiest intellects, 
has been that of the soul and its powers. Not only is this true 
of the centuries which have been swept into the misty past, 
but likewise true of today. As the roll of the centuries brings 
us face to face with the problems which great minds are strug- 
gling to solve in 1922, we see eminent scholars, throughout 
the world, co-operating harmoniously in the investigation of 
the soul and its powers. Nor are their efforts in vain. The 
mysterious secrets of the soul are fascinating the greatest 
minds of Europe and America. Marvelous things are being 
done; and things still more marvelous in this domain, will 
yet be done. The surface is only touched; the mystery of God's 
alphabet is just solved, and we are beginning to work in the 
light. 

In order that the mind may be rid of anything which 
will prevent us from grasping a new truth, let us lay aside 
any thought of religion or holy books, and look at all sacred 
books as you do your history, or a novel, and bid time turn 
backward a little over 2000 years. Listen to the Sages! Hearken 
to the wise men of old; lend ear to the prophet as he sings, 
"A Merry heart doeth good like a Medicine; but a broken spirit 
drieth up the bones." "A Merry heart maketh a cheerful 
countenance; but sorrow breaketh the spirit" — A million 
sermons are bound up in those lines. Truths of the soul's 
sorrows; its wonderful creative power; its power for good 
or evil alike on the human body; a message announcing the 
fact that the secret powers of the soul were startlingly potent, 
and known ages ago, long since forgotten, and recently dis- 
covered again by men who dared question, wonder, and in- 



8 SELF MASTERY 

vestigate. 

Wise old Solomon! Renowned in those days through- 
out the known world for his wisdom, he recognized the mil- 
lions of good sermons which those two sentences contained. 

It matters not what you think of Solomon's character. 
Most of you know that he couldn't get a job as a dog catcher, 
or driving a garbage wagon if he were living today, if he lived 
as he did then. But wisdom is not knowledge, nor have ail 
wise men been good. He was no better nor much worse than 
eminent contemporaries, and lived according to the customs 
of that age. Yet his mind quickly grasped the magnitude of 
such a proverb. Only a moment's reflection is here required to 
see that, in his estimation, so important and valuable were 
these laws of the mind and soul considered, either for produc- 
ing good or evil results, that Solomon wanted to make certain 
that posterity might take advantage of their wondrous possi- 
bilities, and his private scribe was commanded to write it in 
the proverbs. That passage is in itself a gold mine to those 
seeking light; and worthy of being carved in marble — in the 
world's Hall of Wisdom. Too many of us have long chanted 
the songs of the prophets and the words of the Nazarene in a 
spirit of dutiful meaningless indifference. They mean no more 
than the "tinkling cymbal, or sounding brass." Many of us 
contentedly boast that the teachings of the Man Jesus are only 
for old men and enfeebled women; fables intended to make 
their declining days more endurable. Never did man make 
a more fatal error. Jesus was not an impractical dreamer, 
but a wonderful Seer, who announced secret laws which were 
then generally unknown; laws which are the most practical, 
sure, certain and scientifically correct that the world has yet 
discovered. 

Let us consider some of the simple laws expounded by 



SELF MASTERY 9 

the one prophet whom all skeptics, all unbelievers, and all 
atheists everywhere alike admit was the sweetest character, 
the grandest brother, the noblest man, and about the only 
real friend of which the known world has any record. 

Yes, we have had other "Saviours," but none such as he. 
Divesting the same principle quoted from Proverbs, of all 
its emotional language, Jesus expressed the same immutable 
law of mind, so simply, that a child, if let alone, can grasp it. 
"As a man thinketh in his own heart, so is he." A whole volume 
pressed into one sentence. As he continues to think, so shall 
he remain. Worth a thousand sermons if you can see it; ser- 
mons which are directly applicable to the daily life of every 
business man, professional or laborer alike. Men have blundered 
over this mine of occult gems for ages, and many will continue 
to blunder. 

The renowned Plato in his life long search for the soul's 
secret, discovered so much about the creative power and its 
magic effects upon the body, that he was forced to the con- 
clusion that man by nature was Divine, born of God; that the 
real man, the soul itself which inhabited the body, was an immortal 
entity; Indestructible I Eternall that man, during the ages 
past, had been able to use those divine powers at will — powers, 
which we have attributed to angels and gods only; that, through 
wrong living, and by habitually breaking the laws of his own 
nature, man's divine gifts at last became so perverted by his own 
choice that his divine attributes were gradually taken away. They 
were eliminated by a well known natural law that, as a result of 
such a life, all the horrors of hell were naturally drawn down on 
the heads of those who chose to live so unwisely. 



10 SELF MASTERY 

This same law, in all animal life eliminates that which 
is not rightly exercised or wisely used. Thus it was that Plato 
taught of the manner in which man sacrificed his divine rights. 
His investigations led him to believe that it was possible for 
posterity again to attain this former estate. 

It is a well known fact that this natural law of elimina- 
tion is seen most strikingly illustrated in a physical manner 
in fish, which are found living in the several great caves of 
the world. They now have no eyes; but upon close examination 
the skull reveals the fact that once that particular fish family had 
eyes; and when the brain is examined, there is the remnant of a 
perfect optic nerve. When the fish were first imprisoned in their 
underground cave, they had eyes; but living in total darkness 
there was no use for the eyes; there was no sun light to furnish 
the active stimulant. Not being used at all, the function of sight 
soon became dead. 

Thus it is with any other function of mind, body, or soul — 
God eliminates that which we do not wisely use. 

While there are many historical figures, great and small, 
who taught these same laws, yet for the purpose of this book 
only two or three will be mentioned. 

Shakespeare said, "If you would attain a virtue, assume 
it!" That is another whole volume on metaphysical power, 
boiled down to one sentence. He knew what he was talking 
about. It is generally conceded that his knowledge of humanity, 
and its frailities; of the effects of emotions upon the mind, 
brain and body was not exceeded before nor has it ever been 
exceeded since. 

Emerson, Whitman, and others taught the same law. 
There are a thousand teaching likewise today. The initial 
truths then, underlying the greater laws of Self Mastery, are 
by no means new. 



SELF MASTERY 11 

During the long years of unfaltering effort; of untiring 
struggles of man to enslave the elements, harness the light- 
ning and subdue the Earth in order to add comfort and hap- 
piness, the secrets of the miracle working power of nature 
were laid bare, time and again, until we now have added to 
our comforts, thousands of wonderful inventions which one 
hundred years ago existed only in the minds of some of our 
"wildest dreamers." Today we have conquered many of the 
physical laws of nature, and exclaim, "Behold, what wonders 
God hath wrought." 

And now the mighty cry goes up, from all over the world, 
"how about harnessing the most mysterious of all forces — 
the subtle powers of the mind?" Or, "those strange and myster- 
ious forces of nature which, under certain circumstances not 
yet definitely known, seem to obey the will of man, and through 
which the most astounding facts, revelations, and phenomena 
are produced. How about harnessing those powers? The chem- 
ist, by the aid of his test tube has proven that these powers are 
not beyond comprehension. What will science yet do with 
these miracle working agencies?" 

The wisest and best men proclaimed these powers ages 
ago. Men and women have been guillotined and burned at 
the stake for daring to reiterate this truth; and behold now 
our chemists prove the claims of the ancients by chemical 
analysis. 

Never in the recorded history of mankind was there such 
a universal awakening to the possibilities of thought power — 
soul power, as there is today. The wonderful potential possi- 
bilities of right thinking, and its blessing to the world; and wrong 
thinking with its attendant curse is now stirring the entire 
civilized world. The thinking world is awakening to the fact 
that the beautiful teachings of the old prophets; teachings 



12 SELF MASTERY 

which have long been buried under theological trash, are wonder- 
fully alive! The stupid efforts which succeeded in covering the 
divine truth for centuries, are now acting as a boomerang, 
showing as never before what an awful price is paid by posterity, 
in misery, sickness, sorrow, death and wholesale murder, as a 
result of the evil designs of ancient political intrigue, and de- 
liberate preversion of divine truth. What an everlasting im- 
pression is made on minds which think, when we contem- 
plate the heritage which befell humanity as a result of the wicked 
ways of our fathers. The horrors of life's tragedies which 
blight the world as a result of false teaching can never be com- 
puted. The wondrous miracle of truth is shown by the fact that 
in defiance of all this accumulated and compounded villainy, to 
pervert and conceal truth, up through the deep layers of theological 
rubbish is coming to the surface, glimpses of immortal truth, seeking 
the light as it were, like the plant kept in the cellar, reaching 
up toward God's sunlight. So successfully had the evil de- 
signers concealed the truth that mankind has been groping 
blindly in the dark for centuries — seeking the light. Usually 
when he did find it, or suspect its whereabouts, it meant death 
to him because it is difficult for one to conceal Self-Illumination. 



The Unseen Chemist 

Today there is a new spirit dawning over the world, the 
spirit of toleration; a light — "that light which lighteth every 
man that cometh into the world." There is at present a great 
occult wave sweeping over the nation; a wave of unsuppress- 
able magnitude and enthusiasm. People of all classes are show- 
ing an interest as never before witnessed in the world ; marvelling 



SELF MASTERY 13 

at the great possibilities of mind building; of character building; 
success building. A living interest is aroused in a power which 
destiny decrees shall bring untold happiness to generations 
yet to come. 

The wisdom of our immediate ancestors, in making the 
priceless sacrifices for us which they did, is vindicated. They 
planned wisely that we might be free and privileged to pry 
into God's mysteries without fearing prison or persecution; 
free to herald our discoveries to the hungering world, — vin- 
dicated a thousand times in the discovery which they made 
possible; and stupendously important laws which reveal to 
view the miraculously creative force of the human mind; powers 
now known to exist and manifest equally for good or evil results, 
during each and every state of mind or emotion, according to the 
kind of emotion ; whether mild, violent, depressed, or whether 
of love, faith or confidence. 

Within each of us, within our inner selves, we carry an 
unseen Chemist, with magic powers which are more intensely 
real than the most fascinating fiction. This unseen Chemist 
carries love, health, happiness, misery, sickness, sorrow and 
often death. Without any voluntary thought or intention 
on our part, it creates life or brings death; sickness or sorrow; 
saves life or destroys it; makes of us demons or angels; brings 
success or failure; and the secret of this Unseen Chemist which 
bears happiness or death is hidden in the simplest and at once 
the most complicated occult statement that the great Nazarene 
Prophet ever made. It is found in "As a man thinketh in his 
own heart so is he." 

So simple that it sounds childish, but it contains a potent 
truth which is about to revolutionize the world. It has long 
proved the fatal stumbling block for clergymen, professional, 
and laymen alike; but at last it has yielded up the key to 



14 SELF MASTERY 

its mystery. Its secret is so simple that the wisest could not 
see it, yet the most humble need not go astray. Its powers for 
good can never be fully estimated, and a fuller knowledge of 
it will prove it to be the prime factor in finally redeeming the 
human race. 

Creative and destructive Forces 

For a long time eminent physiologists, physicians, and 
psychologists have agreed that the mind's power had a won- 
derful chemical influence upon the body; an influence for good 
or bad — all depending upon the nature of the thought. 

It was noticed that sudden fear often causes death; that 
agonizing, unbearable grief turns the hair white in a single night. 
It happens so often that it is common knowledge and it seems 
unnecessary to point to particular cases. However, as Marie 
Antoinette is a well known historical personage, reference to 
her may prove of more value than a reference to others less 
known. 

Poor, unfortunate Marie Antoinette! That pitiable, 
misguided figure of French history, whose hair was as black 
as night; her figure stately and erect. On the morning fol- 
lowing her husband's execution, she came from her boudoir 
her shoulders drooping, and all the color departed from her 
cheeks; it had gone forever. Where nature had painted roses 
were now seen the deep and unmistakable traces of agony. 
Deep furrows were plowed in her colorless face; the pupils 
of her eyes were only dark spots in staring discs of scarlet. 
The world beheld in her a pitiable object lesson as to the wages 
of sin against self. Her withered features were a haggard monu- 
ment erected in honor of the quick and awful work of that 
Unseen Chemist, when directed unwisely. 



SELF MASTERY 15 

Sorrow plows deep furrows in the countenance. // creates 
a chemical, a poison, which lowers the powers of one's vital re- 
sistance; reduces the weight of the body; destroys the appetite, 
and paralyzes the power of digestion, thereby so weakens the 
body, that it becomes the victim of any deadly germ. 

Violent fits of anger, rage or jealousy each creates a dif- 
ferent kind of deadly poison, and are usually followed by a 
high fever; then chills; then a sick spell in bed. 

Prolonged grief is slow but certain suicide. It produces 
a poison in the blood which gradually closes and destroys certain 
groups of cells in the vital organs. 

Anger, rage, jealousy, revenge, grief, each one after its 
own kind, creates a powerful poison in the blood, almost instantly 
after this mental condition or emotion asserts itself. 

Each one of these emotions creates a separate, distinct 
kind of poison. Each poison effects the entire body and brain, 
but more particularly some special organ of the body such as 
the lungs, heart, liver, stomach, kidneys, etc. The organ most 
affected will be determined by the kind of mental storm raging. 

Certain emotions instantly change the odor of the breath. 
In fact so quick, sensitive and wonderful is this force that 
it actually inoculates the saliva with a virus corresponding to the 
kind of emotion present Under certain conditions a special 
kind of saliva inoculation is noted in kissing. No idle dream 
is this, but a cold demonstrable fact proven chemically and 
otherwise. 

Who has not noted the disagreeable odor of the breath 
of one who is in great grief? What man or woman so unfor- 
tunate as not to have noted the divine perfume with which God 



16 SELF MASTERY 

scents the breath of the wife or sweetheart when tenderly held 
in the arms of the husband or lover; or when the emotion of 
love is present? 

The change of the nauseating odor of the breath dur- 
ing grief to that of the sweetest, purest odor, is almost instantly 
wrought, if the thought which has produced the grief is suddenly 
removed by discovering the thing believed is untrue, and the reverse 
emotion is set up. To illustrate; a grief may be present over 
a love affair, and the lover suddenly appears upon the scene 
and disabuses the mind of the thought which produces the 
grief. When the error is discovered, the trouble settled; and 
this is followed by renewed faith and confidence, and then the 
emotion of love, the change is like magic. This is a simple ill- 
ustration but will serve to fix the thought as to the effects pro- 
duced by suddenly reversing deep emotions. 

The sublime beauty of this great Unseen Chemist is that it? 
wonderful miracle working agency can be controlled — directed; 
that is power for good naturally far out-strips its power for evil. 
Were this not true, the race would be extinct. 

A few cases showing the fatal effect of perverted men 
tal creations may be cited, showing the undisputed facts in 
such a graphic manner that the lesson will not be forgotten. 

A case is reported in the Landon Lancet, which illus- 
trates the destructive power of mind or of the Unseen Chemist 
which does the mind's bidding: A boy, nine years old was 
badly bitten on the hand by another boy while fighting. Not 
withstanding the fact that every effort was made to save the 
boy's life, forty-eight days later he died of "hydrophobia." 



SELF MASTERY 17 

Another case will illustrate the same law: The eminent 
Dr. Van Swieton, well known both in Europe and America 
for his knowledge, skill and achievements, reports a case of 
a young man who, while in a street brawl, fighting, while terribly 
enraged, tried to bite his adversary, but accidentally bit his 
own finger very badly before he realized what he was doing. 
That young man died in terrible agony, three weeks later, of 
hydrophobia, or a disease so closely resembling it, that it could 
not be distinguished from hydrophobia by diagnosis. 

Three of the most eminent authorities on children's diseases 
have informed us that hundreds of innocent babies are poisoned 
and die every year as a result of nursing the breast follow- 
ing moments of anger and rage on the part of the Mother. 
In such cases, the physicians are compelled to issue a death 
certificate, which is a lie on its face. These deaths are attributed, 
to other causes, while the truth is, the milk was poisoned 
inoculated with the poison which rage drove the Unseen Chemist 
to create, and the murder of an innocent was the result, the 
price paid for such indulgence. 

The mother of a well known London physician was acci- 
dentally bitten by an enraged epileptic. Result? She died 
of the bite a few weeks later. / 

Notice, if you please, how quickly the state of rage or 
hate inoculated the saliva with a deadly poison, which is certain 
to claim the life of the victim. 

Creative 'Power of Love versus Hate 

Love creates several distinct elements which instantly 
enter the blood and which are similar to a virus in their action, 
the principle of which promotes joy, brings roses to the cheeks, 
brilliancy to the intellect and smiles to the eye. Love brings 



18 SELF MASTERY 

health to the body, and a splendid success in any chosen field 
of operation where its laws are permitted to transform our 
thinking. 

Rage in man or beast inoculates the saliva with a deadly 
poison, so that the bite of a man enraged is as poisonous as 
a reptile. 

Have you not seen a teased rattle snake, viper or copper- 
head become so enraged that it sank its poisonous fangs into 
its own body and in a few minutes turned on its back, stiffened, 
and quivered contortively and died in awful cataleptic condition 
a few minutes later? It is a common sight where poison reptiles 
are found. This is akin and analogous to what occurred in the 
mind, blood and body of the young man referred to above who 
bit himself and died of his own venom. 

There is no passion to which the human mind is subject but 
which instantly saturates the whole body with a sort of virus after 
its own kind. Either that of love, hate, joy, sorrow, success or 
failure — each producing a result peculiar to itself. 

What has seemed to be a law of God, that often works 
great injustice to the innocent as well as the guilty, is found 
in the fact that a man can't prevent his own deadly poison- 
ous thought waves from escaping into space, and eventually 
injuring others, but his own eventual punishment with a ven- 
geance is as sure and certain to be meted out to him as it is 
that the sun will rise tomorrow. 

The influence of this mighty force does not cease or halt 
in the brain or body where it was created. Jts power sets 
up immense, radiating, etheric, occult waves, similar to those 
generated at the spark gap in wireless telegraphy, and sends 
them flashing through space — hundreds of miles — yes, thousands 
of miles away. 



SELF MASTERY 19 

Crashing with the speed of light, out into the world, where 
other brains intercept them; pick them up, and sooner or 
ater in another brain, they set up emotions, passions, ambitions, 
or depressions and plunge the victim who was sensitive to them 
into a similar condition; and soon there follows a tragedy. 

Allow yourself, if you will, to contemplate the great, 
lorrifying psychological crimes committed throughout the 
world, the responsibility for which no scheme of law yet devised 
by humans can fix or cope with. Nor will, or can it ever be done 
by any code of laws now written in any library of civil or criminal 
procedure in any country on this planet. 

Have you ever felt a sudden mental or spiritual elation, 
or a sudden depression without being able to assign any cause, 
and you could not shake the spell off? Beware of such feel- 
ings. They are caused by irresponsible tramp thought crea- 
tions, turned loose upon the world. Arouse yourself there- 
fore, to the meaning of their presence and possibility when 
such feelings pervade you. Realize the necessity of throwing 
such depressions off. Nothing will succeed so quickly as forcing 
yourself to think thoughts of love, and good cheer for all man- 
kind and of yourself, last. 

Wise was the prophet who sang, "Thoughts are things 
* * * * endowed with wings." Be careful therefore 
what you think. Wise was the one who first sang, "Cast thy 
bread upon the water; it will return to thee in many days." 
Be careful of the quality of bread. Wise was the best friend 
this world ever knew — Jesus, the son of the carpenter; The 
Son of Man — when he said, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." 
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." "With what mea- 
sure ye mete," etc. "A new commandment give I unto you — 
that ye love your enemies, — bless them that curse you." "Do 
good to them that hate you — pray for them that persecute 



20 SELF MASTERY 

you." This quoted from about the only real friend the world 
ever knew. 

The gems of divine wisdom given to the world by the 
Christ, reflect laws which are so beautiful that, when most 
of us come near enough to the Light Eternal to get a glimpse 
of things divine, the purity of that light blinds us. Seeing 
through the physical eye, and not through the great Inner 
Orb of the soul, the contrast is so great that often we become 
totally blind to some of the simplest, plainest, clearest and 
easiest to see, of all God's wondrous gifts to men. Many of 
us deliberately close our eyes and then exclaim, "Give me 
light," or "I can't see," when with the eyes open, a glance 
about us will reveal divinity everywhere. 

As we further consider the tremendous part which emo- 
tional chemistry plays in the affairs of men, we find that anxiety 
and worry are twins; that prolonged worry produces a chemical; 
a virus in the blood which destroys the nerve filaments through- 
out the body, and works irreparable harm to the entire nervous 
system. 

It also creates an occult element which is certain to bring 
defeat in the very thing about which we manifest the anxiety. Jeal- 
ously creates a virus which produces tumorous growths which often 
make death seem preferable to life. Often it produces cancer 
of the breast or lips. 

Joy produces a quality which brings life, strength, hope, 
courage and ambition to both body and mind. Under its 
magic stimulus, we walk with our heads in the air; our shoulders 
erect; with a smile on our countenance and a word of good cheer 
for all. 

Pleasurable emotions cause the lungs to do far better 
work, and thereby enrich the blood, make the body glow, 
and make us look, feel, and act like real men and women. 

Let us look at the havoc wrought by gloom — depres- 



SELF MASTERY 21 

sion, remorse, regret. In these qualities is concealed the cold, 
cruel, relentless hand of self inflicted tortures. Often its death 
grasp is indicated on the cheek of the despondent maiden, 
whose heart has been broken — disappointed in love; plainly 
indicated by the awful chemical shock through which that dis- 
appointment forces the body! 

The demoralizing effect which this long continued emo- 
tional grief has upon the mind, body, and soul is clear beyond 
any possible doubt. Such despondency as disappointed love 
creates a virus which closes the cells of the lungs; first one group 
of cells closes, then another. Its sphere of action becomes 
larger, and more extended, until at last most of the internal 
surface of the lungs is closed; the blood becomes overloaded 
with poison which would normally be eliminated; but now 
the lungs no longer can perform their function properly, and the 
fatal message is plainly written. It becomes more and more 
unmistakable as the surface of cell closure increases. It finally 
becomes a perfect hot bed for the deadly tuberculosis germ — 
a pitiable picture of the last struggles of the unfortunate victim 
who was once so cheerful, so full of life and hope. It is now easily 
seen that what was once the home, the "Temple" of a happy 
immortal soul, which was working out while here on earth the 
plan of the Great Divine Will, soon ceases to be a fit place for 
the soul's habitation. It is impelled soon to release its hold; 
renounce its claim, leave its Temple, and depart for that great 
Unknown Country. 

The Unseen Chemist and Love Enthroned 

"He that controlleth himself is greater than he that con- 
trolled an army." 



22 SELF MASTERY 

Conforming to the plan of the writer, the negative, or 
destructive creations have been presented first, that you may 
more firmly grasp the divinely optimistic view. To see but 
one side and know nothing of the other, would work an in- 
justice equally to you and the subject alike. It is therefore 
desired most emphatically to convey the great truth that the 
mind's creative power for good results far outweighs that for 
evil when understood intelligently; when properly guided and 
wisely directed. 

The philosophy of self mastery enables us to attain hap- 
piness, joy, success and health; enables us to gratify life's 
sweetest ambitions and its secret hopes. It enables us to at- 
tain those normal desires which never cease to throb in the 
heart of the average human being, unless confidence, the will, 
and hope are dead. 

The first great principle in the practical application of 
the philosophy of Self Mastery is found in the self evident 
truth that God (nature, if you prefer) does not inspire the human 
heart with hopes and longings without also placing within reach, 
a power by which those hopes may be gratified. God is not a mocker 
of men. God's laws are nature's laws; and man cannot break 
them without paying the penalty. In as much as we cannot 
avoid them, it is wise to live in harmony with them. It follows 
therefore, as the night the day, that if you have secret hopes 
and ambitions to attain, for which you have struggled in vain, 
it is certain there is not only a good and sufficient reason for 
your failure, but also a normal, natural way by which your hopes 
may be attained. I care not whether it be regarding your 
business, the attainment of some fondly cherished hope, a 



SELF MASTERY 23 

matter of friendship, or a deep abiding love. If it constantly 
begs for expression, admission, realization, there is no doubt 
that such longing is in harmony with the plan of your life as 
intended by the Great Divine Architect. There is a way by 
which the attainment is sure and certain. Furthermore, whether 
it be attained during your present life, during this incarnation, 
it is certain that some day, somewhere, somehow, in another 
life perhaps, it must be satisfied and attained in order to fulfill 
the plan of your soul's existence. Its needless postponement, 
however, on your part, will only delay the fulfillment of God's 
Divine plan for you; entailing needless disappointment and 
sorrow here and will only add more trouble for you to work 
out. 

Each human being is a perfect prototype of the universe; 
a perfect law unto himself; a king; a God. Every law in this 
universe is found within the individual. Man is a miniature 
Solar system within himself — as much a perfect part of this 
great psychic world system, as our Solar system is a perfect part 
of the thousands of similar systems of worlds in space. Our 
world, the earth, is always in the right place, right on time, to 
be relied upon, which fact should be copied as the first principle 
for our own life guidance. 

If the laws enunciated by the prophet of Nazareth are 
proven to be Nature's Laws and therefore, the only sane course 
for any man to follow, no argument or sophistry can ever hope 
to conceal this simple fact very long from the prying minds 
of men. If "God" is divine, so is man. If man is a practical 
creature, so is God. If God is just, man must be, and is, at least 
to himself. He cannot be otherwise. He pays himself what he 
earns. If unjust, apparently, to self, he in reality is unjust to 
everybody else. If true to himself, he is false to none. The 
law is inexorable. 



24 SELF MASTERY 

The man Jesus proclaimed a practical God; one who 
mingles with you and me in every minute. You may call 
Him "the great law/' or "the divine substance," or "love," 
in which creative principle, we ever "live, move, and have 
our being." Called by any other name, God responds the 
same. The God of nature is good. He is kind. He helps 
me to smile, and to enjoy. I can see him in the stars; hear 
his voice in the trees; talk to him in the flowers, and behold 
him in the face of my enemies. 

Another of the vital tenets, or self evident truths in the 
philosophy of the Mastery of Self, is that every human being 
is created in the Image of God; is a child of God as much as 
you are a child of your mother. By nature you are divine, 
whether you believe it or like it, or not. There is no such thing 
as your possible annihilation. You may have your choice; 
reflect your divine nature, your true birthright, or you can choose 
the other path. Every soul is created free to choose his own 
fate. 

Fate shows that every soul is free, 

To choose his life, just what he'll be. 

For wide the realm, God's freedom given, 

But he will force no one to heaven. 

He'll call, persuade, direct aright. 
Crown you with wisdom, love and light; 
Ten thousand ways He's good and kind, 
Though He'll never force the human mind. 

The Divine Creator leaves us free to choose and act. He 
also adds a little responsibility clause to this charter of freedom 
and privilege; you must shoulder the responsibilities for your 
own acts. This you cannot hope to avoid. Divine freedom carries 



SELF MASTERY 25 

with it, within you, the penalty inflicting power for every wrong 
you do, which is automatic in administration of punishment. 
It never fails to do its duty. It is the court, judge, jury and jailer. 
It may seem often to be tardy in administering proper or 
suitable punishment, but it is sure and certain and we can 
never escape it, for it is ever right with us. 

It has been said that "The highway between 'heaven' 
and 'hell' is a straight line." Of the path between success 
and failure, the same. Between happiness and unhappiness, 
likewise. These roads are dotted with unfailing guide posts, 
but most of us either refuse to read them, or shy; get be- 
wildered, frightened, and run away into the wilderness of 
confusion. This, however, does not lessen our responsibility 
or help us to escape. Many of us are not afraid of anything 
and boastingly try to prove this to ourselves by trying to con- 
vince our acquaintances that reading the guide posts which 
line both sides of the path of life is only foolishness and forms 
no part of the creed of a real man. How well we are paid for 
such a course of procedure! What a harvest we reap which we 
have sown, tho we are prone to complain that we have not earned 
such a deal from the hand of fate. 

You need no teacher to point this out, nor do you need 
any sacred book to prove it to you. If you will but open your 
eyes, and look about you daily you can behold divinity every- 
where. You, my brother, or my sister, were designed by that 
great, kind Father, to reflect your divinity; to smile, to laugh, 
to work and to play; to let your light shine out brightly that it 
may warm and cheer the world. It is your privilege and your 
duty to be successful; to enjoy life; to love nature, and 
build a bodily temple which bears the stamp of God, 



26 SELF MASTERY 

Success, happiness and an abundance cannot come to a 
mind that is pinched, shriveled, skeptical and pessimistic. 
Nor can the mind that doubts and fears, ever hope for much 
success — never until doubt, fear and pessimism are rooted 
out of your garden of mental creations and kept out. // one 
would become in harmony with the law of opulence, the law of 
plenty and of success, he must put himself in harmony with the 
laws which govern his own being. When you finally conclude 
that you are born of God and not of the devil ; that you were 
created by a divine principle; that you therefore must possess 
divinely creative forces within your being; that God is not a 
mocker of man's hopes, ambitions or his miseries, and that you 
are therefore entitled to happiness, health and success as a 
natural heritage, then the bright and shining goal which you 
seek to attain will be in plain sight. You will have reclaimed 
your birthright. 

When you have made up your mind to desert bad luck, 
misfortune and poverty forever; that you are going to substitute 
in their places, happiness, and success, your battle to find heaven 
on earth is almost won. The very act of turning your back to 
the bleak and barren coast of poverty and unhappiness, when 
done in a spirit of profound sincerity, conviction and deter- 
mination, will arouse within you a power to do, which you never 
suspected possible. Things will begin to move as you wish, 
making way for you. Things which were impossible for you 
before, will now seem easy and natural. Where before grew 
a thistle will now be seen a rose. Where before you saw obstacles 
and monsters glaring at you defiantly, you will now see an op- 
portunity. Where before you met a rebuff, you now find an 
inviting hand extended. Do your highest and noblest duty to 
yourself and allow no one to block your progress because of any 
conventional feelings or notions of friendship and its too often 



SELF MASTERY 27 

meaningless and empty obligations. 

While it is true that this creative principle within is in- 
separably linked by a golden cord of sympathy to that Great 
Universal Source of love and energy, it is equally true that 
no mind or intellect is great enough to attract that greater 
and lasting success, if that mind is snarling, back-biting and 
groveling in the mire of pessimism and doubt; or which habitually 
howls that the whole world is wrong. By so doing one creates 
an adverse occult energy which retards, blockades and actually 
dams up the great occult source through which the stream 
bearing your success must of necessity pass before it can possibly 
bring the results you seek. Nor can such one possibly know 
real happiness while steeped in the poisonous elements of envy 
or sarcasm. 

Never forget the poison which such emotions or states 
of mind create. Hate, Revenge and Jealousy act upon the 
body and mind like a dynamite bomb upon a building, when 
exploded within its walls. Such emotions shatter the men- 
tal and psychic structure into chaotic ruin. 

Self Mastery and its Magic Key 

The master key to the vaults of happiness and success 
is found in the law of Love, Hope, Confidence, Good Cheer; 
and a joyous smile is its gentle handmaid. These will lead 
you to within a step of a practical knowledge of your own 
psychic power. Having succeeded in this, the subtle laws of 
occultism will soon unfurl before you in all their glorious use- 
fulness, and your life will never again be the same. 

Love is the master key to all perfect ideals of life. It 
is that something which struggles in the tiny flower seed to 
create the "flower in bloom." It is that which impels the 



28 SELF MASTERY 

bee to carry the fertile pollen from the male to the female 
flower. It impels the mother, human or animal, gladly to 
sacrifice life in order that the offspring may live; it is the 
law of worlds — the power which impels the earth through 
space — that law which is surging through the soul when hus- 
band loves the wife, the mother the child, the lover the sweet- 
heart, or that of friend for friend. It is eternally creative 
unless perverted by a perverted will. Even then it creates, 
but its creations are of evil. "Love is the fulfilling of the 
law." When living in harmony with the law of the creative 
thought, love, which is nature's highest manifestation, fills our 
lives with complete attainment of every desire, hope, and 
ambition which is worthy of being so named. 

The secret of creating and drawing to us all that is good 
has been proclaimed from the mountain and the valley for 
ages, and always has found some fertile soil. Usually, however, 
it has fallen on deaf ears. The Nazarene prophet announced 
it in "A new commandment give I unto you that ye love one 
another as I have loved you," for "love is the fulfilling of the 
law." The world's master minds and writers have proclaimed 
the same law as the only force capable of solving the human 
problem for at least ten thousand years. And few there be, 
comparatively, who have solved the problem for self. 

Love is a vital law. The greatest of all the Apostles, in 
his Immortal 13th Chapter of First Corinthians, proclaims 
it: "Though I speak with the tongue of men and of angels, 
and have not love, I am become like a sounding brass, or a 
tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, 
and understand all mysteries, and have not love, I am nothing. 
And though I give all my goods to feed the poor, or my body to 
be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love 



SELF MASTERY 29 

suffereth long, and is kind; it envieth not; love vaunteth not 
itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh 
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth 
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth; beareth all things 
and hopeth all things. Love never faileth. * * * And 
now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of 
these is love.' 9 

When we think of Love as an emotion, either pleasant, 
harmful, good, bad or otherwise, and that it ends there, we deceive 
ourselves as badly as the Roman Churchmen deceived them- 
selves when they announced that Gallileo was a fraud and 
sent him to jail. After due deliberation they had proven (?) 
the claims of the great Gallielo all to be false; that what he 
taught about the world plunging at terrific speed around the 
sun; and that earth revolved on its axis; that the sun did 
likewise; that he saw several moons around Jupiter; that 
Jupiter was many times larger than this earth; that Saturn 
had strangely fascinating rings around it in the form of discs 
which were several hundred thousand miles in diameter; that he 
saw mountains on the moon through the telescope which he 
invented; all these claims, they said, were "Contrary to com- 
mon sense, contrary to the Bible and to the teachings of the 
church, opposed to true religion, and contrary to all the laws 
of God," and therefore they saw to it that such an heinous fiend 
as Gallileo was placed safely in a dungeon prison. The horri- 
fying facts are too well known to be presented here. Every 
school boy today knows that the great Gallileo was right; 
that the church as usual was wrong; that the wisest clergy- 
men which the great church could produce shamefully de- 
ceived themselves; deceived the world, and plunged human- 
ity into a deeper gloom than already had engulfed, it, as the 



30 SELF MASTERY 

price of closing their eyes to glimpses of the Light Eternal when 
brought face to face with them. A greater calamity than befell 
them, befalls the individual who deceives himself by tossing aside 
the thought of Love as being any less than as universal, as 
eternal and as necessary as the law of Gravity. 

Deceiving one's self as to the law of love is fatal to one's 
highest and best interest. The effects of the Law of Love, when 
wisely directed, are as certain as any other fixed law of nature, 
or of God, if you choose. When love is thrown into a frenzy 
or a panic, caused by jealousy, rage, or envy, the results are 
as uncertain in their destructive creations as the uncertainty 
of the panic-struck magnetic needle when carried into an excited 
field. 

The Law of Love operates under the joint control of the 
Will, Faith, Hope, and Belief. It operates as unfailingly as 
the law of negative and positive magnetism. It is as certain 
as the result of fire when brought into contact with inflammable 
materials. 

It is "the greatest thing in the world;" the greatest law 
in this universe. Its powers may wisely be used to produce 
the most wonderful happiness, health, and prosperity, or this 
same law may easily be perverted. When thus directed, its 
powers produce confusion, adversity, failure, poverty, sickness, 
sorrow, dire distress, and death. The recent scientific proof 
that what the ancients claimed for "love," and said of it was 
true, is the greatest discovery science ever made, and will yet 
be the means of bringing more happiness, more comfort, more 
pleasure, more joy, and be promotive of more real advancement 
to the human race than any other of the many wonderful dis- 
coveries yet revealed to man. 



SELF MASTERY 31 

Every one has some fondly cherished hope, some ideal 
which he has strived to attain. Many have strived in vain; 
others have attained their ideal to a degree. Still others per- 
haps have strived more noble, fought more gallantly, and 
yet failure has been the only apparent reward. Some, per- 
haps, have a lingering hope still knocking at the door of their 
hearts, when the means by which that hope might have been 
realized has long since vanished. The hope itself is crushed — 
shattered — almost gone, years ago. Still out of the past the voice 
of hope whispers courage to you. Many a worthy battle has 
been lost when attainment of some fondly cherished ideal was 
right at the very threshold, and almost attained. 

An honorable defeat, however, is no evidence of failure, 
for whenever a steadfast hope is found to linger for years, you 
may be certain that there is a way to gratify it; that according to 
the great divine plan, it is right and just that it should be gratified; 
as to when, or just how, it is not always easy to know. 

The puzzling question is certain to present itself to those 
beginning to see the light, "How can we reclaim, and regain 
ourselves, or establish a conscious, intelligent association 
with the creative energies of our own soul, in that manner and 
degree which will aid our psychic creations in the building, 
or in accomplishing the object which seems most desirable and 
necessary for our happiness or success?' ' The lesson in itself 
is not difficult, but it is confusing for most of us, and requires 
time for absorption and assimilation. It is well to remember 
that you did not comprehend and absorb your arithmetic, your 
grammar, algebra, analytics, or physics in a week, or a month, 
but that it required a long time. After you had mastered them, 
it seemed perfectly simple, only natural, self evident, and as 
if you had always known them. Comprehending psychic forces 
is much more simple, but few grasp a clear meaning instantly, 



32 SELF MASTERY 

because the mind has for so long a time been falsely educated 
which fact mars one's progress. So clearly and brightly does 
the light of the great good and kind Father illuminate the 
pathway of life, that few people ever gaze at its splendor long 
enough to get used to its beautiful radiance. Most of us need 
a gentle helping hand to assist us over the rough places in start- 
ing out anew. 

In beginning our search for the Occult Way, we must 
remember that "heaven is not gained by a single bound, but 
we build the ladder round by round." 

If you would attain happiness through the Life and Light 
Eternal, lay aside all preconceived ideas which do not proclaim 
for you your own divinity; for whether you are good or bad 
(which means good going the wrong way; on the wrong track,) 
you are still, nevertheless, immortal, indestructible. 

In seeking that which doth not corrupt or perish, one 
must never lose sight of his heavenly birthright. 

After having gotten this far, let us begin to rid ourselves 
of all such rubbish as envy, doubt, fear and pessimism. Do 
not be so weak or cowardly as to say, "I can't," but assert 
"I can," and do it That attitude does not cost you as much 
effort as the "can't" attitude and besides it will not only succeed 
in ridding you of the curse, but leave you with a strength 
you never had before. Discard layer after layer of the poison- 
ous crusts of rubbish which you have accumulated until the 
last of the old shell is gone. Then you will behold yourself as 
God beheld man when first He created him and "made man 
in His own image, and saw that he was good to look upon." 
You will then behold yourself an immortal soul, in all its tran- 
scendent beauty; ready again to start on life's journey, down the 
great shining Occult Way — ready to be guided by that still, 



SELF MASTERY 33 

sweet voice within; the light of your own immortal soul; ready 
to claim your own; lovingly to demand that which you desire, 
"and it shall be given," given by the creative powers of your 
own soul with which you were endowed at the beginning. 

When freed from the curse of a weak, whimsical, perverted 
and uncertain will; when one has fully comprehended the 
meaning of the soul's creative powers, all that the heart craves, 
or the body needs is within easy reach. 

Many will ask "how about the application of the occult 
forces to business? Can the creative psychic powers of man be 
so directed and controlled that a definite object, aim or course 
of procedure in business affairs may be shaped? And if so, 
to any valuable degree? 

Is it practical when applied to every day business? to 
the affairs of every day life? The answer from all who have 
tried it is, that it works miracles. That answer should be suf- 
ficient. 

Let us consider one of the simplest of all occult evidence 
which may be comprehended by those interested, even though 
they possess no knowledge of the occult at all. Every worthy 
attainment which man has achieved had its beginning in longing, 
in hoping, in dreaming, in the building of air castles, if you choose. 
It matters not whether it was a mechanical invention, a deep 
friendship, health, happiness, or the building of a battleship; 
it was first given birth in the psychic centers of the brain; there 
cherished, nourished, and fed on hope and encouragement, day 
after day. There was present a constant longing in the same 
mental direction — ever dreaming with an intense constancy, 
always in the one line of hope, during which time the combined 
action of occult, psychic, and creative energies, contributes to 



34 SELF MASTERY 

the perfection of the dream, adding power and material each 
day, creating always in the positive direction, until at last 
every psychic condition within the mind of the "dreamer," 
within the aura of his activity became perfected; ready for 
the physical creation. The creative waves had lodged in many 
another mind, in which an unconscious, harmonious co-opera- 
tion with that of the dreamer's forces had been building the 
resources of success sought, and which at last brought the 
"dreamer" an unseen assistance from many unexpected sources, 
until finally, all who looked could have seen the "dream" being 
actually materialized into a physical reality ; and soon that which 
was originally "only a dream," stands out clearly to all — 
created. 

You will notice that emphasis is placed on creating "in 
one direction only" in connection with the exercise of these 
subtle forces. An illustration may bring the law out more 
clearly: If a frog is in a well thirty feet deep, with a little 
muddy water at the bottom, and the frog climbs up three 
feet one day, and falls back; climbs up five feet the next day, 
looks back at the tempting muddy water, and jumps back; 
then the next day climbs up ten feet, but looking back down 
yields to the temptation and decides to go back once more to 
the muddy water; then the next day has another longing to 
climb out of the well, and succeeds in climbing up only two feet, 
and finds it harder climbing now than before, and goes back; 
finally, if the frog continued this climbing and falling back and 
can't resist the temptation offered by the sensation of indulging 
in the muddy plunge, how long will it take the frog to climb 
out of the well? 

Most of us are like the frog. One day we succeed in at- 
taining wonderful heights, and almost rid ourselves of those 
deadly parasites, fear and poisonous emotions, such as envy, 



SELF MASTERY 35 

hate, revenge, and jealousy, and we invite hope, love, confidence, 
optimism, zeal, and enthusiasm to abide with us. When we 
do, how quickly the voice of the soul expresses its approval, 
in our face, our feelings, and in spiritual exultation. Then one 
is likely to say, "Surely I am on the right road now." But are 
you standing on a sure footing? Are you sure you will not slip 
and fall back like the frog? What if some incident occurred 
which would ordinarily drive you to rage, would you Rage? 
Would you slip back to the bottom of the well into the muddy 
water? This temptation to rage is humanity's "Waterloo."' 

The thousands of tests conducted in occult and psycho- 
logical laboratories have proven conclusively that, when under 
the direction of the will, the mind constantly creates one of two 
kinds of forces; one which aids us in pushing onward toward 
attaining our cherished ideal, while the other aids or pushes us 
backwards. It creates an occult substance out of which your 
success is possible, probable and easily attained when psychic 
laws are conformed to, while the other substance created actually 
defeats us in our purpose. When responding to the wishes of a 
perverted will it creates energies, or poisonous forces within 
us which plow deep paths of sorrow, from which we cannot ex- 
tricate ourselves; ruts of trouble which we boldly and deliberately 
chose. In contrast to this, when under a wiser direction of the 
Will, it oreates a substance which opens to us through the 
telescopic vision of the soul, a view of the heavens; or creates 
with equal ease a force which sinks us into the deep sorrowful 
pits of hell, or the dark abyssmal pits of remorse. The hand of 
God cannot prevent you. You may choose freely but you must 
pay the price, and receive your well earned reward. 



s 



36 SELF MASTERY 

An Uncrowned King Discovered 

In choosing the wiser and happier Way, one of the first 
steps reveals the necessity of renouncing the old, or the new 
becomes elusive. The moment you have renounced misfortune, 
failure and sorrow as having no normal, natural place in your 
life, and you have vowed to turn your back on these grewsome 
things forever that you are going to claim the riches to which every 
normal soul on Earth is entitled, then never turn backl Don't even 
look back if possible! Every time you look back or turn back, 
you just jump back into the well, and will have to pass through 
the same struggle in your tortuous climb again. 

Many of those who have achieved such wonderful suc- 
cess in unfolding and utilizing their psychic force, are those 
who have endured great sorrows, heartbreaking disappoint- 
ments, and those who have met with depressing failures. Those 
having passed through great misfortune seem more appreciative 
of their birthright when they rediscover themselves, and for 
this reason are more successful when they do, because they have 
learned the lesson at the expense of breaking health or heart; 
learned the terrible price one must pay for the luxury of wrong 
thinking; learned the true value of wisely loving ones self, 
which attitude results in a nobler love of God. 

In seeking to follow the light which ever shines from your 
own soul, follow the example left us by the immortal Colum- 
bus. In looking over the record of his voyage, we read: "To- 
day, we sailed west — which was our course." Turning the re- 
cord page for the next day's sailing you will find: "Today we 
sailed west, which was our course." Turning page after page of 
the record of that wonderful voyage, with all its terrible hard- 
ships, you will read: "Today, we sailed west, which was our 
course." 



SELF MASTERY 37 

In your journey down the beautiful path of life, let your 
lights be burning; your motto ever be, "Today, I lived, acted, 
thought and evolved in the right direction, for this is my course." 

This adds daily to your power to do. 

In following the new light, it will be necessary that you 
be on the alert ever constantly to exercise divine purpose, 
ever in the same direction. The moment you begin to realize 
your own divine attributes and your nearness to the powers 
which create every good thing we have, love, or enjoy, then 
the world will take on another hue, and look more beautiful 
than it ever did before. 

The moment you look upon yourself rightly; love self 
as you should with a divine appreciation of your own soul, 
then you will begin to honor your body as your temple; the 
temporary abiding place of an immortal soul. You will respect 
yourself as never before, and the world will pay you an equal 
tribute of additional respect. 

"Be noble and the nobleness which lies in other men, 
but sleeping, will rise to meet thine own." 

Confidence in the nobleness of the Majestic Self, and a 
confidence in others is one of the grandest assets one can pos- 
sess. Without confidence, no one accomplishes anything 
great or worthy. If you have no confidence in Self, the world 
will have no confidence in you. People will place the same value 
on you at which you value yourself. Take away a man's con- 
fidence, courage, hope, and enthusiasm, and you haven't much 
left. It is estimated by persons competent to judge that there 
are fifty thousand persons in New York City whose confidence 
in self is completely destroyed; persons who are past being 
helped in this incarnation, because the will has been broken, 
destroyed; hope has been annihilated, and therefore they 



38 SELF MASTERY 

can be of no use to humanity, and only a misery to themselves. 
None of this vast number can be trusted to be sent a block 
on an errand. Not that they are inherently dishonest, but 
because circumstances and their own destructive thinking 
have conspired to crush, and kill all confidence in self. It has 
broken down the will, in which condition all sense of obligation, 
trust, and honor become dead. Verily "A merry heart maketh 
a cheerful countenance; but a broken spirit drieth up the 
bones." 

That person therefore, who robs you of your confidence in 
self and destroys your belief in your own ability to attain some 
cherished hope or ideal, and thereby deals a death blow to your 
courage, count that person your enemy. Think kindly of him. 
Forgive him; but turn your back to him, and be more cautious 
as to where you place your pearls. 

The miracle of self confidence and enthusiasm have brought 
a crowning success a million times out of the world's scrap 
heaps and discarded wrecks, when chrystalized opinion de- 
clared that only additional disaster and loss could come of further 
efforts in that direction. Confidence and enthusiasm grow the 
rose where stood the poisonous nettle. It produces fields of 
golden grain in the impassible deserts, when all, "the wise ones" 
said that the enthusiast was a fool. 

Self confidence, supplemented by a smiling enthusiasm, 
puts armies over the Alps, discovers new countries, crosses 
unknown seas, wins happiness and success where the pessimists 
say "Impossible." Faith and self confidence enable one to behold 
himself as God beholds him; a soul with creative immortal attri- 
butes. It gives him back his divine birthright. 

Every thought we think not only affects our own body 
and brain structure, but also that of others. Those subtle 



SELF MASTERY 39 

thought-waves are carried out into space like the waves of 
the wireless telegraph, where they are picked up, and acted 
upon by other persons who may be hundreds of miles away. 
Who can estimate the awful tragedies enacted by misguided 
souls, whose initial incentive to commit crime was born in 
the brain of some one else — perhaps hundreds of miles away? 
Who can estimte it! Thoughts which the original thinker 
flattered himself no one knew but himself; and yet those sup- 
posedly secret thoughts took wings, and ended their journey 
by falling into some fertile soil; the brain of a misguided brother. 
In a moment of blind rage, an awful tragedy was committed! 
How well therefore, should we guard our "mental creations." 
How wonderfully true, that to an appalling degree, "We are our 
brother's keeper." 

What the world needs today more than any other one 
thing is genuine kindness; that kindness which is born of a 
wise love of self, and a true love for all humanity. The world 
is hungering for smiles, for kindness, for love. It is craving to 
view more of the flowers beautiful in the garden of our mental 
creations. It needs the gentle hand extended to help and to 
encourage the brother who, perhaps has failed in any one of the 
score of ways where a false step means a temporary defeat, or 
a crushing failure. To encourage and help such a one gives 
you a courage and a power with which to meet the new problems 
of your own life which you did not have before; and a strength 
which you can not get otherwise. 

Kindness to the stranger, to the friend, or to the foe pays 
one a handsome dividend. Dollars can never estimate it. 

True encouragement and a wise sympathy smooths down 
the rough and rocky bumps of life. It takes the sting out of 



40 SELF MASTERY 

failure; adds courage and confidence to the heart which 
needs them, and reveals the true meaning of "more blessed to 
give than to receive." 

In as much as Nature has implanted in the soul a longing 
to attain ; to have and to possess health, happiness and plenty, 
a desire naturally manifests itself for more specific direction 
as to definite procedure in evolving these rightful riches. To 
which question the answer is that, no definite rule covering the 
needs of every one can be given because the same definite 
rule will not work for everyone alike. The reason for this is 
found in the fact that ages of false training prevent us from 
being able (any group of persons) to reason alike, even with 
the same facts before them. Hardly two persons can be found 
who reason alike. A generally specific rule however, is appli- 
cable to every one who feels the call to higher and better things. 
If you are brooding over failure of any kind, stop it at once. 
It serves only as a millstone around your neck, and will drag 
you down deeper into the pitiable mire of helplessness. Toss 
it aside forever. Bury the memory of it if possible, and look 
the world in the face squarely, and yourself likewise. Congratu- 
late yourself that it wasn't worse; that you are wiser in that 
you know what not to do again, and try to put yourself for the 
time being, in tune with the song of the birds. Start all over 
again with a clean slate. Determine to close your eyes to the 
past, and open your soul wide to the eternal present and the 
brighter future, and you will start out realizing that you are 
either a new creature, or you have laid hold upon some new 
power; that some new life giving power has laid hold of you. 
One may not be able to do this in a moment, or an hour, al- 
though many do; but a great reward will crown honest effort 
and a determination. Preseverance will win for you. 



SELF MASTERY 41 

If that accursed demon of envy has barricaded itself with- 
in your sanctuary, then with one mighty determination, root 
it out. Every time you see it coming near you, give it a stony 
stare, and turn your back. 

If you hate; if you hold revenge; if you are harboring 
some green-eyed monster, turn such a demon out without 
any ceremony. Desert them; and without your encourag- 
ing hand to feed them they will soon die of themselves. Such 
curses are the distress and remorse producers of the world. 
They are fiery, treacherous, life-consuming devils; so paralyz- 
ing and deadly that they endanger life. Often the losing of 
one's life is the price one pays for reveling in their gore. It is 
an expensive luxury. 

If one's life has been such that false thinking has filled 
his brain, mind and soul with noxious thoughts and venom- 
ous weeds and he is unable to see the Light Eternal when face 
to face with it; and if one finds that he can't rid himself of the 
oppressive rubbish under which his soul seems weighted, the 
trouble may be that he is trying to create a vacuum by trying 
desperately to put the demons all out, and leaving nothing 
in the space occupied by them. A vacuum has never been 
created, and never can be. You can not remove anything 
from its position without leaving something in its place; and 
until you begin to learn to crowd these demons out by gently 
bringing some other more welcome guests in, you will not succeed. 

The secret is a process of substitution. One must force 
out the evil creations and disease producing thoughts, by a 
combination of starvation, by neglect, and by enlarging the 
group of noble ideals, and refusing to see, think of, or enter- 
tain the old, destructive, depressive thoughts. The new, and 
the good soon grow to occupy such a large space in your soul 
that there is almost no room left for the false, or evil. The 



42 SELF MASTERY 

demon thought creations which have long held dominion 
are now squeezed into a space so small that they quickly die 
of themselves. 

Encourage the growth of the good within, at the expense 
of evil. Never looking at the evil will cause it to wither away; 
dwarf itself into insignificance, until finally it occupies an in- 
finitesimal space in the mind; "good" will have "overcome 
evil/' while Divine Law — The Light Eternal is left in control 
Supreme. This is a most vital law, and applies to all psychic 
attainment, it matters not in what field of endeavor the effort 
may be. 

Numerous books which have received recognition, are 
filled with false and inexplicit teaching on many of the most 
vital points. Several lectures of prominence are likewise doing 
much harm in the same manner. 

While attempting to create success in health, business, 
development, or the many other worthy aims, negative crea- 
tions are formed by hundreds of persons, who honestly strive 
to attain. The reason for their failure is found in their "creating 
energy," which begins to evolve in both directions uncon- 
sciously as a result of holding to, thinking of, and constantly 
reverting to the thought or condition which is the opposite of 
that for which they really long. This difficulty of tearing down 
as fast as one builds up must be overcome, by the masterful 
determination of "Thinking in the one direction, and holding 
the divine love ideal of self and humanity ever uppermost." 

Worry and fear are two of the most senseless world wide 
curses. Worry never benefited any one, but brings trouble, 
sorrow, sickness, and disaster to thousands. If you are a 
victim of worry, and you wish to progress, you positively will 
have to eliminate it. Worry is another accursed luxury, and 
none can afford to pay the toll it demands. Many say it is im- 



SELF MASTERY 43 

possible to stop worrying. It is not impossible. Not being 
able to stop worrying is based upon the same law which enables 
others to stop the accursed habit. Drive yourself just to let 
go of yourself. Let your muscles all relax and indulge in that 
sweet luxury of dreaming of the birds, the woods, the streams, 
God's beautiful flowers; a trip through the clouds, through 
space and you will "come back to yourself much refreshed. 
If you doubt it, try it, and you will find that the thing over 
which you worried is no worse when you ' 'return' ' but you will 
be the better. Your worrying will never stop the world from 
spinning along in its orbit nor will it stop anything for your 
benefit, or because you worry. If you doubt this also, worry 
it out for a while and when you do stop, the world will still be 
spinning along just the same. 

Enough cannot be said of the greater love of self. "Love 
thy neighbor as thy self," can never be understood rightly in 
that arrangement of words only by one who is familiar 
with the ancient Greek or comprehends early Hebrew expression. 
"As thou lovQSt thy dearest friend, love thou thyself also," 
is more nearly a correct translation of the original thought. 

How can one love God who loves not himself? If one 
cannot love that which he sees, how can he ever love that 
which he has not seen? Learn as never before to love and 
respect Self; respect your body, the temple in which the real 
You dwells. Your Temple should be held in sacred esteem. 
Do you esteem it such? One should love self with a pride divine, 
but with no false or foolish pride. Begin to look upon Self 
as an incarnate soul; a God, if you choose. "Know ye not that 
ye are Gods?" If you regard holy writ, that quotation alone 
should settle the question. The philosophy of Self Mastery 
casts a new ray of light on the philosophy of early Christianity. 



44 SELF MASTERY 

In the lifting of our lives to that plain of divine realization, 
we should ever keep before our vision that ever present law of divine 
compensation which shows us with an absolute certainty that, 
as fast as one begins to eliminate doubt, fear, revenge and envy 
from his heart, and substitutes love, hope, faith, confidence, cheer- 
fulness, and real smiles from the heart itself; as fast as one 
becomes able wisely to appreciate and lovingly to appropriate 
the gifts of the Soul; as fast as one seeks in the spirit of truth, to 
appropriate his divine birthright, just that fast and no faster, all 
things whatsoever one desires will be "added unto you," be it success 
in business, in music, in the home life, in love, or in the thousand 
avenues or departments of life in which one's hopes may lead. 
Never lose sight of the value of "Sailing west, which was our 
course" — sailing onward in the one positive, unalterable direction. 
Looking backward or down, is dangerous and should be religious- 
ly avoided. 

If you seek to add to self the richer joys of life; if you 
seek the world's blessing, or to obtain that which the world 
in general may say comes to those who are selfish enough, 
one must become wisely and whole heartedly unselfish; wishing 
from the depths of his heart, every possible success in every way, 
to all people everywhere, and out of the abundance of such unself- 
ish love waves which you launch into space, is created all that one's 
heart could seek. That which you have cast out in to the great 
ocean of Creative Supply in waves of loving thoughts will re- 
turn to you, laden with riches. The measure will be full and run- 
ning over. 

Remember, however, one all important law! Every time 
you try to get even with some one for some real or imagined wrong, 
you will be the one most injured^at the finish. Two wrongs never 



SELF MASTERY 45 

made a right; they never can, never did, and never will. It is 
a thing which carries a bitter and terrible boomerang with it, which 
will sooner or later hit the sender harder than was originally in- 
tended for the victim. 

If you will but reflect a moment on your own life, or on 
the life of others whom you have known, you will see how the 
life of the "Revenge seeker" has been dwarfed, bruised, punished, 
and cursed by his own Venomous stings. The law can't fail. 
Many who hear this have paid an awful price for blindly indul- 
ging in revenge. The very thought creation, and act itself, carries 
within it an unfailing reflex action, which shoots your own arrows 
back at you with an accurate aim, and the arrows carry a more 
deadly venom than you sent. Nor can you escape its blow. 
It is impossible to avoid it, because it is justice meted out to 
you in that you must "reap what you sow." It is impossible 
to harbor revenge in your heart, and not suffer a frightful 
loss. 

Another important metaphysical secret is that subtle 
something which comes to one who has learned and mastered 
the meaning of "loving your enemies; doing good to those 
who despise you; and praying for those who hate you." Some 
day, some where, some time, you will have to learn it. 

A Glimpse of the Light Eternal 

That the reader may be the better armed to win in the 
battle for Mastery over Self it is desirable here to express certain 
thoughts which may find a quick response in the heart of the 
reader; thoughts which eventually come to brighten the life 
of every one who delves deeply into the mystic side of things. 



46 SELF MASTERY 

Such thoughts come to all who have eagerly and earnestly 
sought light on the great questions of life; sought glimpses 
of that Light Eternal, from whence the Soul came, and whither 
it goeth. All who have listened wisely, long and faithfully 
to the voice of the Master, and have hearkened to the wisdom 
which always comes to them from out of the depths of the Soul, 
sooner or later have had revealed to them that beautiful truth 
that, there is but one road; one way to genuine happiness; 
one way to attain love and contentment. That way is Nature's 
way I That Nature's way is God's way. That God's way is the 
only wayl All other roads are full of lions, and lead to the abyss 
of remorse. These conclusions are self evident and are reached 
by all who patiently and faithfully sought out the mysteries 
of the Soul, and the meaning of life, the will of nature, and the 
pleasure of God. 

Within man's Temple, the body, or somewhere within 
the Soul that dwells within, there resides a power, a light which, 
if man were not hampered and perverted by false teachings, 
would so brightly illumine the path of life, that he who hearkened 
need have no fear of falling into the treacherous "abysses" 
during his journey of unfoldment here on Earth. Were we not 
perverted by false religious doctrines, "That still small voice 
within" would unfailingly give warning of the "lions," and 
whisper to us the great truths of our divinity. It would ever 
remind us that we are endowed with Godly attributes; that we 
can choose our lives, and just what we will be, although we may 
need some wiser and perhaps kindlier hand than our own to 
help us get started rightly, just at the right time. This "willing 
hand" will always be found when we honestly seek the light, 
for those who have "found it" are only glad to lend aid to the 
"worthy" or "distressed brother" or sister who is trying to qualify 



SELF MASTERY 47 

to "seek more light." Have no fear, for then your own will 
come to you. 

When we approach the deeper shadows cast by that light 
divine which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, 
we discover that man is free to choose evil, or to follow good; 
that when we choose evil we must sooner or later pay whatever it 
demands; pay here, now, on Earth, and not necessarily in 
some misty future life. We learn that the Maker and Giver of every 
good gift denies no man the power to do wrong; but when he does 
elect to do wrong, and sins against the laws of his own soul; against 
the unalterable laws of God, that one carries right within him a 
power which automatically administers a just punishment. This 
administrator of punishment is right within his own being. 
To escape its decrees is impossible. We learn that God him- 
self will not prevent us from doing wrong — nor does He save 
us from administering our self-merited punishment. The 
penalty is unavoidable. It is automatic. 

There is a much more beautiful thought however about 
this unescapable Master who seems cruelly just, and justly 
cruel, which at once commends itself even to those who try 
hardest to avoid paying its toll. It is that beautiful truth 
that somewhere reposing within the secret chambers of the soul 
of each one of us, awaits a potent power which, some day, some 
time, somewhere, somehow, will at last purify us, and work our final 
redemption. It may perhaps, be today; tomorrow; next week; 
next month; next year. It may be ten years; it may be fifty years; 
a hundred years. If you persist in evil ways it may be five hundred 
years, in another life; or in another life, or yes, in yet another 
life. It may be a thousand years or ten thousand years. 

One stupendous unalterable truth the Eternal Light reveals 
to those who have sought it is that, somewhere, somehow, some- 



48 SELF MASTERY 

time, that eternal redemptive power within the soul itself will finally 
win out; will corner you. You will discover yourself. You 
will finally corner yourself, will meet yourself face to face, and 
there decide your fate. You will some day decide that there is no 
use longer to resist God's ways. You will automatically whip 
yourself with the result of evil, until at last you will have run your 
course. You will have decided that breaking the laws of Nature, — 
the laws of God — is but another name for slowly and wilfully ad- 
ministering the most cruel self torture. You then will see that "as 
you sow, you must reap. ,J It will have a new meaning. At 
last you will see that there is but one way and that is Nature's 
way; the soul's way; God's way. In that darkest hour 
of your soul's existence, when you will have reached the lowest 
point of your choice, you will open your eyes and there will still 
be shining for you the "light eternal," offering as it has for thou- 
sands of years, to point the way. That day you will find "your 
Father's house" open; his beautiful joys awaiting you, and with 
these things spread before you, that "redemptive power within" 
will begin anew. You will decide to live in harmony with your 
own laws, and thus you will finally redeem yourself; will 
have mastered Self, and will enter into the fullness of the blessings 
which, as the Prophet of old hath said are "prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world." 

In that day all life; all people; all creatures everywhere 
will reveal to you a new meaning of God. His smiles will be 
seen even in the face of your enemies. Perhaps for the first time 
in years, or even centuries, you will have tasted happiness. 

Finally as this redemptive power within unfurls, there 
will arrive a period in your evolution at which you will have 
shaken off layer after layer; crust after crust; one false shell 
after another until you will have shaken off the last vestige 



SELF MASTERY 49 

of impurity which retards and blinds the soul, and then you 
will be revealed unto yourself, a living God; a creature divine, 
with life eternal; life everlasting; prepared to enter that exis- 
tence in which life, love, and happiness in all their beautiful 
conceptions are without end. In that period will be heard 
many to say, "Behold, evil hath driven me to redeem myself." 

Why postpone your happiness? Why continue in the ranks 
of adversity, sorrow, want, sickness, misfortune, and ignorance? 
Why not claim your reward now? Why continue in gloom 
and unnecessary slavery? Why not open your eyes now? God's 
law tells us that this world bestows its greatest rewards upon 
those who assert their right to them. Now is the hour for you 
to claim your "rights". 



50 SELF MASTERY 

CHAPTER II. 
The One Sure Path to Success. 

What success means to one, would in no manner mean 
success to another. That for which one person may strive 
unceasingly as the only thing which will make his life happy, 
may in no way appeal to another. A definition for the word 
Success is not necessarily a matter of accumulating dollars. 
This is proven by the facts printed in the public press every day. 

Recently a man who had accumulated two millions of 
dollars remarked that he was just beginning to realize that 
he was a poor man — poor in those riches for which his soul had 
longed, and which he believed the accumulation of gold would 
bring. He awoke to the delusion, and found that his millions 
left a terrible emptiness; a hungering and a longing in his 
heart, which money failed to alleviate. To others the meaning 
of success is attaining of happiness. With them, the element 
of money has little place, for the reason that their home lives 
are simple and void of all pomp or false pride. Viewing their 
lives from the money standpoint, they are satisfied with the 
few dollars which they earn honestly each month. The success 
which they crave may be the attainment of some ideal in study, 
in art or the companionship of one who will understand them; 
one who can sympathize with their aims, their hopes, plans or 
ideals. 

Success in any one chosen thing can never be attained 
except by paying an honest price, but not necessarily a price 



SELF MASTERY 51 

in dollars. There is a law of compensation pervading the 
whole universe which tells us it is impossible to get something 
for nothing, from the labor of another without injuring both 
parties. Things must be paid for with an honest price. 

To expect something for nothing is as bad as to have to work 
and never receive any pay for your time and effort Both lead to 
poverty. When we receive something for nothing the law of com- 
pensation is broken and detrimental results follow as surely as the 
night follows the day. 

A religion which costs you nothing is worth nothing. 
A philosophy which you get for nothing, is worth just that. 
If you obtain something of value and pay nothing for it, you 
can be certain that sooner or later you will pay the price or 
pay a greater price as a result of having violated this universal, 
omnipotent law. The law of compensation assures us that we 
get out of life just what we put into it, that we are the result 
of what we have thought. It encourages us with its promise, 
that the more truth we place in the hands of others, the more 
will the law of compensation give you in return for your efforts. 
In no other law is the reward of compensation more apparent. 

Success or failure in any field of endeavor, follows a law 
which is as fixed and unfailing as the law of mathematics. 
Failure to succeed is caused by an internal opposition; an 
opposition within yourself. It may never be suspected or known 
by you, but its fruit you will reap just the same. Success never 
can come until this internal resistance is overcome. If such 
resistance within is retarding our progress, attainment or success, 
it becomes our highest duty to make our inner selves the object 
of an untiring search for the obstacle, or the resistance, and then 
remove it, no matter what the cost in effort. 



52 SELF MASTERY 

There is a law running all through nature which tells 
us that like always produces like; or that like attracts like. 
It is as true from the harvest we reap, from the kind of thought 
we plant in our mental garden as it is elsewhere in nature. There 
is no escape from natural law and its results. The kind of harvest 
we reap, measured by success, health or happiness, is determined 
by this unchanging law. The quality and the kind of seed we 
have sown, and the kind of care we have taken of the growing 
crops, will determine the final reaping. 

The entire philosophy of occult Science is based upon 
the same laws of common sense which determine finalities 
elsewhere in the natural world. 

In the animal and vegetable world, men would never 
think of violating the well known laws and expect anything 
other than a violated, mixed, unsatisfactory result. We would 
not think of planting corn and expecting to reap a harvest of 
grapes. Instead of that we follow fixed, well known and certain 
laws which, for thousands of years, have proved that "Like 
produces like." This law is absolutely true in either the mental, 
animal, vegetable or psychic world. 

In the kingdom of flowers and vegetables, if we wish beauti- 
ful plants, splendid specimens, we do not grow them too closely 
together. We remove every weed, spear of grass, and un- 
welcome intruder. The soil is kept perfectly clean. As soon 
as an unwelcome weed is discovered, no matter how small it 
may be, it is removed at once for we know that it robs the soil 
of strength, and saps the flower of vitality, thereby reducing 
its strength, dwarfing its growth, and marring its beauty. 
If the weeds are not kept out, they will soon destroy the whole 
garden. 



SELF MASTERY 53 

If you had a garden of choice flowers started and you 
discovered a poisonous weed among them which was rob- 
bing them of strength and threatened to destroy them, your 
only thought would be to destroy the weed; to tear it out 
root and branch, at once. 

The lesson is practical. Take it to heart. Apply it to 
your own life. Let us have fewer seeds planted in our mental 
garden, and let us cultivate them carefully. Let us bar out 
or overcome all the stray or undesirable tramp thoughts, and 
keep our eyes ever open, and ourselves prepared to root out the 
unproductive, undesirable weeds as fast as they are discovered 
creeping in. This law is absolutely true in the mental and psychic 
world as it is in the animal and vegetable kingdom. 

In the mental kingdom, common sense is seldom invoked. 
Procedure in this realm has been so haphazard for ages, that 
we deliberately sow thistles and expect to reap oranges. We 
sow envy, hate, jealousy and all sorts of whimsical seeds and 
expect to reap success and a crop of happiness. Because the 
seeds do not grow, we become digusted and hurl invective at 
random because the crop is not of love, beauty, and riches, thus 
making our plight only worse because of the shackling, vampire 
mental creations which we thereby set loose to pray on ourselves 
or others, later. We fly into a rage, tear the mental garden 
up, and plant something else. Consequently our mental and 
spiritual gardens are always in the plowing and planting stage. 
Neither task is ever half done. If the haphazard seeds are 
left to grow, we find lemons awaiting us when perhaps we had 
all along taken it for granted that a rose ought to be given us; 
but we reaped just what we sowed. We got what our efforts 
earned. King Compensation portioned us our share; our 
just deserts, in kind and quality. 



54 SELF MASTERY 

Honesty, cheerfulness, optimism, confidence, enthusi- 
asm, sincerity, justice, a respectful knowledge of this law of 
compensation, and a noble love of self, are the fundamental 
ingredients which are necessary to produce a well balanced 
success. 

The pessimist who carries gloom and depressing clouds 
about with him, is as dangerous as the black damp. Avoid 
him. The pessimist cannot see like the optimist for he has 
cataracts on his eyes and things do not look right. He "sees 
things" but in the wrong light, for he is color blind, and this 
only adds to his danger. He does not see life as it is, or facts 
as they are. He is about as welcome as the ague. He brings 
as much happiness as a shaking chill. However, Compensa- 
tion does not overlook him. It never overlooks anything or 
anybody, not even the greatest or the smallest; the best or 
the worst; the highest or the lowest of any of the creatures of 
this planet. It is the great law of balance; the law which evens 
things up. It keeps an eternal vigil. Nothing escapes its eye. 
We may break any of the man made laws and never be punished, 
but as for the laws of balance, or the laws of justice, of right 
or wrong; as for the laws of nature; the laws of self; the laws 
of divinity; the laws of God — for breaking these there is no 
escape. 

Wise old Compensation never sleeps. Compensation has 
a wonderful memory. It never forgets the most trivial events, 
either good or bad. It would seem that some people are success- 
ful in direct violation of this law, and escape for a long time, but 
it gets them at last, and it always brings a suitable reward. 

We sometimes envy the "Stillmans," ''Rockefellers," 
"Harrimans," the "Morgans," and "Astors," and their millions, 
but when stories of sorrow reveal the inner dregs of the bitter 
cups, this wise old law whispers in our ears words of good cheer, 



SELF MASTERY 55 

and bids us notice that the drawn faces of the "Stillmans" 
have no smile, and they know little of real happiness. 

The law of Compensation is a law of the soul. It is the 
law of all souls, whether good or bad. We carry a law of com- 
pensation within us which records every thought and act, and 
sees to it that we are rewarded handsomely, or at least rewarded 
justly. It deals us back just what we have earned. It shows 
us that it pays to be a real man or a real woman; that shams 
do not go far. It points out that shams may apparently run 
smoothly for awhile, but the sham gets his trouble from the 
start. Look at him or her a few years hence, and see how the 
Soul's law of Compensation has kept track; kept good account, 
and finally settled up things evenly. Hundreds of cases may be 
cited where shams have apparently evaded old King Compensa- 
tion for years; but at last they are dragged out into the lime- 
light of shame and disgrace. Hundreds every day are taking 
their own lives to avoid the awful pangs of remorse. 

In seeking success therefore, there is a road which is sure, 
safe and certain. That road is beautifully lighted by man's 
inner conscience. It is an easy way, and the only road by 
which the goal may ever be safely reached. This road parallels 
the highway of Compensation. Its many lights teach us that 
poverty is a disease, an abnormal condition, an unnatural state; 
that the sons of God, by nature, cannot possibly reflect the dis- 
tress of poverty, unless such distress comes as a result of having 
used the "talent" unwisely. 

Compensation tells us that fear, worry, envy, hate, 
jealousy, shame, embarrassment, regret and the brooding 
over failure, are damning curses, awful vices, murderous 
luxuries which stand immovable, mountain barriers in the 



56 SELF MASTERY 

way. They are impassible, perpendicular walls which can 
be removed by one method only. Never can you attain the 
goal you seek and still harbor these curses. You cannot serve 
God and Mammon. Before you can behold and enjoy the 
glorious light of the occult way, to attain the hopes on which 
your heart may be set, these barriers and vampire Demons 
which so many of us dread to part with, must be overcome, 
mastered, slain; must be forsaken forever and left to die. 
This they will quickly do of themselves if you refuse to support 
them. 

How impossible to reflect that Image Divine, or be a real 
man or a real woman while under the yoke of failure thought. 
How difficult to look the world squarely in the face and smile 
with that open sincerity, as a child of this beautiful world when 
the curse of fear, the curse of the race, has clutched you in its 
poisonous, paralyzing tentacles. The poverty thought and the 
demon of fear crush one to earth under the weight of embarr- 
assment. A feeling of shame ascends our psychic throne, and self 
respect almost disappears. There are a few rare heroic exceptions 
to this state of affairs, but it nevertheless remains true that the 
poverty thought has made mental or moral cowards of most 
of us, if not psychic cowards. 

It places blinders over our eyes and makes it impossible 
for us to see our inseparable connection with that great ocean 
of creative supply, which contains enough to clothe, feed and 
keep comfortable, a thousand times the present population 
of this world as royally as that of the happiest and healthiest 
person to be found on this planet. Still there would be an im- 
mense reserve supply. 

In striving to attain success we must at once abandon all 
vicious, bitter, revengeful, fear thoughts. They wring a sad 
tale from the hearts of men. Look at the careworn faces of 



SELF MASTERY 57 

little children who have been cursed by the hounds of fear 
since their birth and witness the ghastly toll it exacts! It 
stamps their little faces with age and care; weakens their hearts, 
and ruins their whole career. Fear robs children of all their 
real "childhood," and they never know the pleasures of youth. 
The mental and physical creations of fear and poverty have 
dogged most of us since long before we were born. Unless we 
rid ourselves of them they will gnaw at our heels until death. 
True success and genuine happiness never can possibly come 
until we have overthrown these tyrants forever. 

Fear is a useless, weakening curse. It is an enemy of 
happiness. It blasts promising lives, ruins careers, wrecks 
reputations, destroys health, makes happiness impossible, and 
what is more, ninety-eight per cent of all the things which 
you have worried about, for fear it might happen, never did 
happen. The worries which rent your nerves, weakened the 
heart, and produced so many other heart sickening conditions, 
were all for nothing. 

Refuse to tolerate a trend of thought or an emotion at 
any time unless it is conducive to your happiness or success. 

What excuse can one have for reveling in sorrowful, de- 
pressing tales when to do so is to invite a growth of the same? 
Refuse to listen to any tale of depression unless some person 
is at that moment in distress, physical pain, or imminent danger, 
and needs assistance. Force yourself deliberately to cultivate 
just such habits of thought as you would wisely choose, and then 
practice it regularly until the mental habit is formed. It will 
then become "second nature, "while at first it may seem drudgery. 

It is impossible for us to think one thing and be another. 
The tramp thinks "tramp thoughts." The happy, contented 
man thinks of happiness. The successful business man, business 



58 SELF MASTERY 

thoughts. We cannot harbor depressing thoughts of fear and 
failure five hours a day and of success another five hours a 
day, and ever advance or succeed except in the wrong direction. 
Thinking of failure, sorrow or of the sorrows of someone else, 
is to throw down your guards, and extend an open invitation to 
those forces to start a growth of these same destructive creations 
within yourselves. 

Can a Christian, or a godly man, think constantly of 
lewd, low, mean, cruel, vulgar things day after day, and still 
be holy, pure, and good? How quickly can the least informed 
answer that question correctly. How quickly anyone can detect 
those thoughts when they begin to mainfest in the physical 
form, in the expression of the face, in the eye, in the manner, 
by words, actions, deeds. One "rotten apple" will pollute a 
whole barrel of apples. Can one ever hope for success if he goes 
around with a long face, dreading failure, looking failure, feeling 
that he cannot afford this or do that, because of the dread of 
coming to want or meeting with bad luck? Can one behold the 
beauties of the rising sun by looking west, or with your eyes 
closed? It is as impossible to find success while disregarding 
these mental laws as it is natural and certain for one to succeed 
when he begins to think and act in the right manner, governing 
his thought creations to conform to the law of success. Your 
hopeful, bouyant, optimistic, enthusiastic, confident attitude 
turns loose and sets in motion, powerful occult forces which con- 
stantly assist in building the very thing you seek. Here again we 
see the great immutable, unfailing law, Compensation, at 
work. 

Picture, if you will, a man in business who carries the 
picture of failure always stamped in his face; the merchant 
who dresses as a failure, assumes the air of a man who is a 
failure. How long will it require for him to reach the goal of 



SELF MASTERY 59 

Success? Would you feel like making a second purchase of 
him if this were his attitude while waiting upon his customers? 
Most anyone can see how quickly this would affect his patrons; 
and also see the effect of this sort of logic; but many of us 
fail to grasp its wondrous reversing possibilities. How well 
one likes to purchase where every one looks prosperous and as- 
sumes an air of prosperity, and acts like normal beings. 

Personal appearance is a most important factor. " Dress 
and manners" have far more to do with our success or failure 
than at first would be suspected. Determine once and forever 
therefore, to remove the last trace of anything from your per- 
sonality which suggests failure. Avoid it in your manner, your 
clothes, your actions, your voice, words and appearances in 
your home. Assume a manner which suggests everything so 
contrary to the idea of failure, that for another person to have 
a thought of failure from your appearance or actions would be 
impossible. Turn your back upon the failure atmosphere for- 
ever. Throw off your old outer shell with a mighty effort. 
Away with the old! Put on the new! Never slide back. The 
very act of turning away from depression and failure in your 
mental and physical attitude, being determined never to return, 
will in itself, turn loose a power which will cut a way for you 
where the sign has always read "No road." 

"If you would attain a virtue, assume it." How well 
Shakespeare knew the law. Most actors know this same law 
in a limited sense — the power which personal appearance wields 
over an audience, when the actor is made up to act the part 
of a certain character. "Make up", is a wonderful factor in 
life. Its vibration has a wonderful effect, not only upon the 
audience, but upon the actor as well. If an actor's make-up 
is poor, it is almost impossible for him to play his part with 



60 SELF MASTERY 

what is known as a ' 'magnetic effect." If he looks in a mirror 
while realizing that his make-up is bad, the effect upon himself 
is much more fatal. 

The power of color vibration in its effects as seen on animal 
life, vegetable life, or as it influences the mental or spiritual 
attitude and condition of health, have long been known by 
scientists. The government of United States and that of Eng- 
land conducted experiments which proved this law beyond all 
doubt. These experiments show that grape vines under the 
color vibration of the blue or purple ray produce twice as much 
fruit as under the ordinary sunlight, the fruit being almost 
as large again as the grape grown without the presence of the 
color ray. The experiment was conducted with two male calves, 
there being but a day's difference in their ages and both calves 
being large, and healthy. Both were fed alike, the same quality 
and quantity of food at the same time. They occupied pens 
side by side. One calf was sheltered under a roof which was 
made of pieces of violet colored glass. The sun was allowed 
to shine through this freely at all times; while the other pen 
was arranged so that there was no shelter except during the rain 
or from intense heat. The experiment lasted for three months. 
At the end of the three months, the calf which was kept in the 
open was simply a normal, natural, healthy, three months old 
calf, no larger or smaller than would be expected; while the 
calf kept under the influence of the purple ray, was more than 
twice the size of the other calf, and manifested all the desires 
of a maturer bullock a year old. Hundreds of similar experi- 
ments were conducted with similar results. The same experi- 
ments have been tried with human beings, with almost un- 
believeable results. Certain colors of wall paper prove fatal to 
the patients who have certain diseases, when confined in 



SELF MASTERY 61 

such rooms. However, this leads us into another vast field 
of investigation, which cannot be entered here. 

The savage, in all parts of the world, when getting ready 
for war, paints himself with certain combinations of red, blue, 
ochre, and black, as a necessary preliminary. When they face 
each other with these hideous "war paint" combinations, it 
arouses a spirit of bravery, even in the most cowardly, which 
so blinds them with rage, they will walk into the very jaws 
of death. Hideous "war paint," and still more hideous "dress" 
have been mighty factors mentioned by all our old Indian 
fighters. 

Could our own little boys play "Indian" successfully 
without their Indian war togs on, their feathers "colored," 
faces "painted" and a suit to match? Watch them play their 
childish war game and see the effect upon them of "make up." 

This same law of color vibration in the clothes we wear 
effects not only ourselves, our bodies, and our creative thought 
forces, but it effects all with whom we come in contact. We 
must never lose sight of the effect and value of being well dressed. 
It is our "war paint." We feel differently when dressed up. 
Everyone will admit this. When you are well dressed and 
you know you look pleasing, your clothes affect your own 
mental forces. You raise up your head, push out your chest, 
and brace back the shoulders. You do not look or feel like the 
same person. 

When you are well dressed, others instinctively feel your 
changed magnetic force at once. Then you have confidence 
in self and instantly that confidence is felt by others, and men 
begin to have a confidence in you they did not have before. 

In no philosophy is the law of drill or repetition so 
necessary as in studying the laws of the soul. It will 



62 SELF MASTERY 

here bear repeating again that people will never place a value 
on you, any greater than that which you place upon yourself. 
If you do not hold your head high, others will hold theirs above 
you. If your ambitions are no higher than the dust in the street, 
you can be sure that you will be constantly walked over by the 
crowd and never noticed. 

All the above illustrations and comparisons have been 
submitted with the hope that the student may study the re- 
quirements of his own body, his own temple, in color vibration, 
most compatible and in harmony with that of his own soul. 

While it is true that "clothes do not make a man," it has 
so much to do with what the man is and does, that it cannot 
be overlooked. Some of us are color blind, others color ignorant, 
for which condition few of us are to blame, but this is no excuse 
for our not striving to ascertain what colors our bodies and 
minds require. 

In seeking success, never lose sight of the fact that, if 
you feel you are poor, and cannot afford to dress well, you 
must dress as well as you possibly can, and your new hope- 
ful vibrations will immediately begin to help you. The vi- 
bration of your clothes and of your home surroundings are 
bound to tell upon you. There is no escape from it. Wear 
the best clothes you can afford. Expend your money freely 
but judiciously and give it careful, optimistic consideration, 
and the investment will return you a handsome profit. Re- 
member that no one can do his best or even well, who lives in 
a hovel, dresses meanly, starves his body, or lets his soul go 
hungry. 

There is a spiritual dress, a "Soul's Suit" about the body 
which is seen and felt by others, and he who cultivates it to a 
pleasing degree, has something in his suit which no tailor can 
give. Its mysterious something is seen when the back is turned. 



SELF MASTERY 63 

Its charming vibrations are felt throughout your whole being 
when you shake hands with such a one. 

Look not lightly upon the power of pleasure. It is worthy 
of your most serious attention. If you make a million in a year, 
and wreck your health so that you cannot enjoy what you have 
made, what have you gained? 

To deny self of all pleasures, to let your soul live in a half 
starved body, and deny yourself every luxury, and get along 
in the cheapest and poorest sort of things, is to cripple and 
dwarf your very soul. If one has sacrificed every pleasure 
in the mad rush for wealth, and after attaining wealth, finds 
that life holds no charms for him, that his horded gold cannot 
bring back the power to laugh, to smile, and to enjoy; when 
one finds that his health is gone, what then has his wealth 
availed him? 

To deprive yourself of all amusements because you "can- 
not afford it," and never to know recreation and joyous exhilira- 
tion which it brings to mind and body, all in order that you may 
lay up a few dollars, is surely because of no love you bear for 
self. This is a love of gold, but not of God. 

Never deprive yourself of the gratification of your finer 
tastes. To do so is to bemean and brutalize and stifle the ex- 
pression of all the best things within you. God shows his ideas 
of dress in the beautiful flowers, in the splendor with which 
he has pictured the starry heavens; of beauty as disclosed in 
the rose and the indescribable lily. Further to teach us the 
lesson of God's idea of His children beautifying themselves, 
He paints millions of beautiful flowers in colors of pleasing, 
nameless hues, and still other beautiful scenes of nature with 
robes which bring joy to the eye. The very breath of the 
flower brings sudden outbursts of inspiring pleasure. 



64 SELF MASTERY 

Take this lesson into your own life, that you too, are one 
of God's creations; one of God's children. He has taken 
more thought for you than for the lily of the field. God wants 
you to encourage all the finer tastes of your nature. Never 
be afraid to show your finer feelings, and a proper love of self. 
Keep your heart, mind, soul and body as sweet, well cared for 
and as pure as possible, and you will win God's smiles; and 
reap happiness and success in life which you have not even 
dreamed of before. 

Cheapness is a mania which comes from the thought 
currents of fear, and of failure. Avoid cheap things, cheap 
and common ideas. Cheapness will bring you cheapness as 
like draws or creates like. Cheap things have been made by 
poorly paid, weak, half starved, ill treated persons, often en- 
slaved children; and the vibrations of this curse will follow 
the product. Leave cheap articles alone. Do not encourage 
or assist in making possible the continuation of a curse which 
keeps half starved human beings at work under conditions 
equal to the worst slavery, by your patronizing cheap places, 
or looking for cheap articles. 

Cheap articles, cheap places, cheap, unworthy ideas carry 
with them an unescapable venom which exacts from us its 
full price. 

If you live in a hovel you are carrying the hovel thought 
vibrations in your psychic aura, which will work a conscious 
or an unconscious depression on those whom you meet, and it 
will rebound back again to self. 

Being stingy with self, depriving self of the pleasant things 
of life will quickly show depressed results. 

Live first class. If you cannot possibly do so, live as neatly, 
tidily, and with as many little luxuries as you can arrange. 



SELF MASTERY 65 

Treat yourself as a royal guest — not one day, but each day. 
Be a prince, a king, a queen. If you have been drawn into those 
destructive currents of thought which drag their victims down 
into the stream of failure, and you feel that it is impossible 
for you to afford to dress well, then dress as cleanly as you can. 
"Cleanliness is next to Godliness," and "a cake of soap is a 
stepping stone toward heaven." Ever hold that vision before 
you in which you see yourself dressed in spotless clothes of 
the latest and best quality. It is impossible to go some place 
without starting, without beginning the journey. Make a 
start. Start right. Get off on the right foot. Make an honest, 
sincere effort. Do the best you can. Your effort, though 
it may seem poor, weak and ineffective to you in the beginning, 
yet it will begin to have a telling effect from the very start. 
Silently demand in a prayerful consciousness, of the great In- 
finite God, as your natural heritage. "All that my father hath 
is mine," because you and I are children of the father, and like 
the father; of the same creative attributes as the father, and 
directly related to and connected with the greatest creative 
source of supply in the universe. Do not forget that while 
God sends the sunshine and the rain on the just and the un- 
just that, there are many other blessings which he witholds 
from all except those who do His will. He is just like our fathers 
and mothers in that the children who are disobedient do not 
share the confidence and gifts of those who are obedient, dutiful, 
considerate and true. 

With this optimistic, loving, kindly determined mental 
and spiritual attitude, with fear conquered, with worry and 
doubt eliminated and with a reasonable amount of zealous, 
honest, worthy effort on your part, wade in\ and the world is 
yours. You will be wondrously rewarded. 



66 SELF MASTERY 

The quicker we adjust ourselves to nature's way, God's 
way, the more quickly will we succeed. This is not a world 
of haphazard chance. Happiness, riches, love, honor are evolved 
from mental conditions or attitude, which are as never failing 
as the law which causes the water to flow from the mountain 
to the sea. Thought currents are as real as currents of electricity, 
and if you comply with the harmonious requirements of this 
infinite law of your own being, all that you seek shall be yours. 
Failure to comply with this law spells failure for you and for 
your aims in life. The quicker we learn, the better for us, 
that we are divinely related to, and forever inseparable from, 
the infinite creative supply of the universe. 

The moment you feel that you are not in touch with the 
rightful supply station, that moment you become obsessed 
with a fear; with a consciousness of your own weakness; a 
sort of childish helplessness. You are a law unto yourself; a 
world, a universe. The lever which controls it is to be found right 
within. It is all within our own control by realizing our own 
infinite attributes, and by cheerfully, optimistically, enthuisastically, 
positively claiming and demanding your own, as your divine 
and lawful rights, in the right mental attitude. Then optimistically 
get busy and do all you can by honest genuine effort, towards bring- 
ing it to pass. No power in this world can resist, retard, or keep 
down a man or woman who is moved to do by such a combined 
force as this. 

Be cheerful under all circumstances, no matter what 
happens. Being otherwise cannot help you or the situation 
and will only make both worse. Fear, anger and pessimism 
strangle the forces which will give you what you seek, pro- 
viding you keep the channels cleared of these life destroying 
demons. 



SELF MASTERY 67 

The Nazarene prophet was the most practical man the 
world has ever known. He was not a dreamer. He was a teacher. 
If we could only drop all the foolishness which has been en- 
grafted onto our souls about Him and listen to His own words 
of wisdom, with half that degree of attention which we gladly 
give to a "Rockefeller," or a "Morgan," in the business world, 
the world's problem of sadness, disease, struggles and strife, 
would have been solved centuries ago. Disease long since would 
have vanished. "Overcome evil with good." How simple, 
and yet how direct that command. That apparently simple 
injunction contains the only solution by which evil will ever be 
overcome. All attempts to apply any other rule or principle 
results in the creation of more evil, and only complicates the 
existing trouble. 

What would you think or say of a man who owned a great 
farm which was subject to overflow from a nearby river, which 
destroyed his buildings and crops, and who would go to the 
head-gates of a dam nearby, and turn more rushing torrents 
of water into the farm, with the idea that he would thereby 
drive away the river water with the water from the great dam. 
There is no doubt as to what your opinion would be. Have you 
never thought of how this same principle works in the thought 
world? Fear never can be overcome by fright. Hate, spite, 
revenge or the death dealing forces of rage can never be over- 
come by retaliation, or by applying the same destructive forces. 

Never lose sight of the all important fact that success 
and prosperity and abundance are products created by your 
own mental force; by the soul itself. Thought force is a 
substance which is as real as the oxygen of the air. The 
greatest forces in this universe are those which cannot be 
seen. No one has seen electricity, magnetism or gravity. 



68 SELF MASTERY 

We see the proofs of their existence, and take advantage of them 
for our comfort. Psychic power is a force which is just as real 
as magnetism or gravity, but difficult for many to comprehend. 

There are some who are born with the right mental atti- 
tude toward life, and who succeed in everything they under- 
take with apparently no effort. They are optimistic and there- 
fore creative by nature. There are others who are born with 
a wrong mental attitude. It is difficult for them to compre- 
hend when shown. They are naturally pessimistic or filled with 
fear. Such persons are in for a struggle in life. They require 
the helping hand of some responsive soul who recognizes their 
plight, who can get them started in the correct path. 

The more we contemplate the divinity of man, the more 
certainly and beautifully does the divi(ne plan for humanity 
unfold to our view. It is certain that the time is not far distant 
when every man will be a crowned king as planned by the great 
Architect of time. 

Success grows largely out of the energies which are set 
in motion by our self confidence. Do not have any foolish 
fears of letting people know that you are self confident. Genuine 
self confidence forms that mysterious link which unites us 
with exactly the Divine Creative forces which we wish to attract, 
or utilize. 

Lack of self confidence begets indecision; indecision 
begets worry, and worry is that hungry, insatiable monster 
which dogs our footsteps from youth to old age, unless we 
slay the beast, once for all. No mind is great enough to com- 
prehend the awful ruin, wreckage, misery and sorrow wrought 
by this curse. 

The mental attitude of hope, of love, of faith, and enthusi- 
asm will soon overcome any monster that ever attacked the 
human mind. The cure for the disease lies within the dis- 



SELF MASTERY 69 

ease itself. Apply the opposite mental state, and the cure 
is sure, quick, and certain; but we cannot keep returning, 
getting back into the same rut, and expect the cure to remain, 
whether the cure has been psychic, or of a physical nature. 

Brooding over past misfortunes, or allowing ourselves 
to bathe in the muddy pool of remorse, creates a poison which 
sickens the heart, kills ambition, destroys our ability, defeats 
our aims, and literally "dries up the bones." This mental 
attitude will kill anybody or anything except that which is 
evil and undesirable. Lift up the soul in prayerfulness, and 
hold only to that ideal in the mental plane which you want. 

Cultivate self possession, repose, and self control, but 
do not mistake a sphinx-like stare for self possession. Be natural. 

Emerson says, "The virtue you would love to have, as- 
sume as already yours, and appropriate." Map out a grand 
program for yourself. Make it large and beautiful. Picture 
yourself as the hero. Put on your optimistic "war paint." 
Play the part like a royal king. Assume success as already 
yours, and act it well always. 

In entering upon this royal program, prepare yourself 
by ridding your mind of all the unpleasant things of the past. 
Start with a new calendar — a new page in life. Keep careful 
watch of the eternal present, and a glowing vision of the beauti- 
ful future. Never allow yourself to revert to an unpleasant 
past. Dreaming of a sorrowful, disappointed past instantly 
shocks the heart, and sets in motion forces which have killed many 
of the world's best people. It has killed more than war. It will 
do the same for you if you indulge in it freely. Such dreaming 
will kill your chance for success with unfailing certainty. 

It is well to take inventory occasionally. Examine the 
supply of mental impressions which may have crept into your 



70 SELF MASTERY 

garden of psychic flowers, and which may have taken root 
during the busy hours. Rid your mind regularly of any thought 
creations which you find undesirable. The very act of uproot- 
ing such undesirable intruders enriches the fertility of the brain 
and brings a strength to the flowering thoughts, which you did 
not have before. This practice will soon become a most pleasant 
and profitable habit. 

It has been said by Professor Elmer Gates, one of the 
foremost experimenters in chemical psychology, that "Any 
one may go into the business of building his own mind. Let him 
summon feelings of benevolence and unselfishness, making this 
a regular exercise like swinging dumb bells. Let him gradually 
increase the time devoted to these psychical gymnastics until it 
reaches an hour or an hour and a half each day. At the end of a 
month he will find the change in himself surprising." Discard 
any or all thoughts or things which are undesirable or which 
do not become your ambitions. 

There is a wonderful power attracted and absorbed by 
us, from our associations, the magnitude of which is far reaching, 
and its effect you cannot afford to ignore. 

If you associate with the frivolous, the aimless, the grum- 
bling, the despondent, or with those who have no faith in these 
psychic laws, you will absorb inferior thought forces, which 
will shackle you, weigh you down, cripple your powers and 
injure your health. It matters not how much zeal and power 
you have, if you associate with those of the opposite, you will 
surely be held back. 



SELF MASTERY 71 

Be cautious therefore, of your associations. Make it 
your business to know whether they sympathize with your 
ambitions. If not, then seek those who do. Base associa- 
tion will carry you quickly down into the treacherous under- 
currents, just as the log is carried down with the swirling current 
of the river. Such currents make you lose confidence in your- 
self, in your ability, and make you a coward in many respects. 
They saturate your entire nature with unaccountable periods 
of depression, gloom, and peevishness. 

We consciously or unconsciously create a mental atmos- 
phere around us. We build a thought power which is ever with, 
and around us, as literally as we can build a house. 

Association with the healthy, happy and successful, aids 
one to keep in an uninterrupted communication with the 
higher Powers; with powerful currents of elevated thought 
forces on which, when you are once fairly launched, you will 
be carried onward to an ever increasing happiness and suc- 
cess. Proper association will aid you to guard against the 
accursed habit of weakening indecisions, which habit makes 
cowards of us, and reduces us to pygmies when compared 
to men. 

Holding yourself in the proper thought vibration and 
the right mental attitude, supplemented by proper associ- 
ations, seems to place the magic key in one's hand which un- 
locks the vaults to happiness, success and fame. You will 
stand amazed at the unexpected means and agencies that will 
open up for attaining your ambition. Where you previously 
encountered difficulty, you will now find favor. Once you 
have gotten nicely started, never recede from the new position 
you have assumed. If you do, forces which you expended to 
aid you, will now become wasted. As you increase in patience, 



72 SELF MASTERY 

exactness, decision, method, self control, and sustained effort, 
these same qualities flow out to others and rebound back to 
you, ever bringing you more power and a greater success. 
Thus, the more you give, the more you have to give, when 
given in that way — the way referred to by the Nazarene. 

Beware of giving too much of your sympathy to those 
afflicted, crippled or in great sorrow. There may occasionally 
be a rare exception to the wisdom of this rule. This may seem 
heartless and cruel, but it is not. Justice to ourselves is the first 
duty we owe God. The old physician has learned by priceless 
experience, and he warns the young physician on this point 
of "sympathy" on account of his own health — that he may live 
a long, useful and active life. Too much sympathy on the part 
of the physician results in his early death. The Magnetic Healer, 
unacquainted with this law of sympathy, frequently takes on 
himself the most violent kind of chronic diesase, which is not 
all contagious. It is proven beyond a doubt that too much sym- 
pathy for the unfortunate, those in poverty on account of 
failure, etc., reacts upon the one who gives the sympathy. 
Too often sympathy proves to be a curse to the one sympathized 
with. This means much more than the beginner might at 
first suspect. It is far reaching in its effects on the body of the 
recipient, and also on the psychic centers, which are likewise 
subject to disaster. 

If we give sympathy and aid, moral or material, to others 
as they call for it, and without reservation or judgment, they 
will take all we have to give, and come open mouthed for more, 
and will continue to do so until we are exhausted. No outsider 
will ever put a limit on your giving. You must do that. Genero- 
sity and kindness are often only other terms for extravagance 
and injustice to somebody — perhaps to the giver. Giving thus 



SELF MASTERY 73 

becomes a fixed habit. Reckless sympathy often gives ten times 
more than the recipient can appreciate, or wisely appropri- 
ate. 

Gifts conferred by the Supreme Power are the only perfect 
and lasting gifts, and when thus received, they benefit not only 
the recipient, but many others. 

In your efforts to make life more beautiful, do not work 
until you lose the ability to rest and recuperate. If you do, your 
end is not far off. Work is noble, but it has its limits. You can 
sin against the Temple and its occupants by overworking as in 
any other sin, no matter how necessary such self enforced slavery 
' may seem to you . The man who toils many hours a day longer 
than he should, or the mother who toils throughout the day, and far 
into the late hours of the night for her children, must suffer sooner 
or later, and pay the price for the sin against the body. God is 
no respecter of persons, conditions or circumstances. His laws are 
fixed. 

The law of our physical limitation must not be violated 
by the rich or poor — the good or the bad. As surely as we 
do, just that surely will we suffer for the sin against the Temple, 
right here, and now. 

When we shall have succeeded in launching ourselves 
fairly well, out on the "Right Way," accept its cheer, joys, 
and responsibilities with humility. Criticise less and encourage 
more than you ever did before. Let us work hard but play 
harder, and more often. Be quick to praise, and slow to blame. 
Be square with our friends, and our enemies will be few. Dis- 
card no old friend recklessly, and seek out a new. Pick the mote 
out of our own eyes and we will see more virtues in the eyes 
of others. 

It is well for us to remember that the defects we often see in 
others are only responses or reflections from foul things hidden 
in ourselves which we seldom discover. Let us be slow in our judg- 



74 SELF MASTERY 

ment of others, but rather pass wise judgment on ourselves. 
Let us strive to do better and be better to ourselves and those 
around us. As the sun goes down each day, let us be able truth- 
fully to say, 'Today I lived more wisely than I did yesterday, 
and was a little kinder to those I met." 

The rubber ball hurled against the wall comes bound- 
ing right back. Remember that the evil we say or do to others 
comes back and hurts us; that the fellow who "knocks,'' 
sooner or later gets hit with the force of his own blow. The 
world has no place for the jealous knocker. It is well to re- 
member that the best of us are none too good, and that the 
worst of us are better than many of us are prepared to believe; 
that charity, kindness and mercy are the marks which indicate 
love, wisdom, ability honor and virtue; that he who growls 
loudest against the wrongs in others is doing so only to detract 
attention from the crookedness, dormant or active, within 
himself, altho he may not recognize this truth. 



SELF MASTERY 75 



CHAPTER III. 



Practical Steps for Entering the Silence 

All the world's great prophets have come from the desert — 
the abode of Silence; the home of Solitude. 

Shut a man up with books; let him study awhile alone; 
out in the mountains or alone in the desert, with no companions 
but his books, the bird life, animal life, and the voice of nature, 
the song of the stars. Let him go "away from the world of people," 
and the power of Silence soon works a glorious transformation; 
an unfoldment of the intellect and the understanding; a spiritual 
discernment in his life, which seems almost like a miracle. 

The Silence has forever been the miracle worker. Its 
wonder-working is not confined to the producing of prophets, 
for its great transforming law works in many directions. The 
Silence will ever continue to be the fertile source from which 
love, greatness and genius will spring. Man seeking the solution 
of great problems of invention are observed stealing away to the 
Silence, often refusing to be disturbed for days at a time; and 
while there, all alone sometimes for weeks, communing with their 
own Soul, at last the solution of the trying problem rises up before 
them like some kindly beacon light in the night. The vision of 
its solution is painted vividly and permanently so that its details 
may be summoned to view at will. 

Some of the great composers have written master pieces 
which have thrilled thousands of people with divine harmony, 
yet they could get such strains only after long remaining in a 



76 SELF MASTERY 

mental and physical attitude of Silence for days and often weeks 
at a time. When that act of entering the Silence had invoked 
the required conditions, the Soul began to hear distinctly, 
strains of heavenly music which become indelibly impressed upon 
the brain. The Soul began then to see the wonderful music 
written — pictured in plain view as if done by some unseen hand. 
So clear and vivid became the miracle production that the entire 
masterpiece remained as perfectly in view as all the details 
are of any beautiful picture of nature at the moment one gazes 
upon it. 

In the golden Silence — the inspiring solitude is to be found 
the antidote for most all the ills and sorrows of the race. This 
assertion is not an idle dream nor is it something new. It has 
been known for thousands of generations. This truth has 
been known by a few of the great, as far back through the ages 
as there is any written history of humanity. 

Have you ever considered why the world's great "Saviors," 
or prophets, usually "went away to pray alone"? Why they 
so often went alone — out into the stillness of the night? Away 
from everyone else to some lonely spot, where they could un- 
bosom their soul, and listen to the voice of the Infinite? 

There is a most vital relationship between the thought 
of the Silence, of Solitude, and of prayer. What is the relation 
of the Soul and its seeking out Solitude to that crying out for 
some avenue of escape from sorrow and unhappiness? 

There is also a profound relationship between desire and 
prayer which is as closely akin as that of electricity to magne- 
tism. In the progress of the mind and soul we have desire, 
which acts as the ever present stimulus toward that goal of 



SELF MASTERY 77 

attainment. If that desire is sufficiently rooted in our nature; 
if it effects our honor or our happiness; if its meaning to us is 
great enough, and still that desire is not gratified, we are at 
last overwhelmed with an impulse..to kneel down and pray. 
With this emotion comes another desire — to be alone; in the 
quiet Solitude where, for some reason, it just seems sweet and 
best to be alone for awhile. Have your most earnest prayers 
ever been lifted toward "Heaven" while you were in the presence 
of others? Never! 

We feel ourselves responding to that impulse in times of 
grief and sorrow. We find ourselves stealing quietly away 
toward some secluded spot, as nearly our idea of Solitude 
as is within our reach; and there the Soul seeks communion 
in prayer. Perhaps you may not have prayed for years, but 
that makes little difference, for the Soul knows how. Nature 
is ever kind and furnishes us with a court of last resort. Grief 
drives us into that "Nature's corner," where an appeal in prayer 
is resorted to — and what a relief follows! 

It is therefore impossible to think deeply and soberly 
of that great Abode of Silence and what it brings without re- 
ceiving some lasting good. 

No doubt some will read these lines who have been un- 
fortunate; some to whom the thought of prayer brings up 
unpleasant recollections. The moment some of us see the word 
"Prayer," it suggests a confused cluster of notions, due to bad 
example, or false education by misguided but well meaning 
parents or preachers. 

There are many to whom the word "Prayer " suggests 
some form of bigotry; to others, nothing but superstition. 



78 SELF MASTERY 

But this attitude results from the habit of surface observa- 
tion, which is one of the most deadly mental parasites. 

Indifferent thought of prayer, and branding it as "Super- 
stition" results from too hasty conclusions without due con- 
sideration of facts. Such a step in any line of reasoning leads 
to many a calamity. 

Let us digress and see what a curse surface judgment has 
heaped upon humanity. By way of comparison and illustra- 
tion, it may be well to introduce certain undeniable historical 
facts to elucidate the subject, and show up the awful dangers 
to nation or individual, as a result of "Surface Judgment." 
It is well illustrated in the awful world tragedies which, during 
the seventeenth, sixteenth, fifteenth and fourteenth centuries, it 
claimed the lives of more than one hundred and thirty thousand 
souls, all sacrificed because of surface judgment on the ques- 
tion of "Witch-craft" and "Heretics." Thousands of saintly 
men and women were burned at the stake — all in the name of 
God, and by protestants as well as catholics. Think of our own 
similar tragedies here in the United States, at Salem, Mass. 
and many other places, only two hundred years ago! There 
this same surface judgment mania caused nine persons to be 
hanged at one time, following a long sermon and supposedly 
suitable prayers by one of the leading preachers of America! 
The authorities of all New England seemed ready for the asylum. 



SELF MASTERY 79 

If the authority of government and justice had been vested 
in a mad house, and administered by lunatics, it could have 
been no worse. Another epidemic of madness, caused by this 
same curse of "Surface judgment" in 1914, threatened civiliza- 
tion itself. 

Think of the tragedy and the awful loss to humanity 
when that great and good man and saint, Cazella, was burned 
in the streets of Spain. In a moment of sanity, after that awful 
crime, one of the priests who witnessed the burning remarked, 
"I am satisfied that he is now in heaven, for I saw his soul leave 
his body." 

Think of that sorrowful world tragedy which still causes 
two of the most powerful nations of Europe to bow their heads 
in shame because of the tortuous death of that virgin, Joan of 
Arc. No other such tragedy is recorded in the annals of man's 
history. It also was because of surface judgment. The same 
was true of Jesus, Socrates, and many others. 

Tragedies are constantly happening to each of us, or in any 
case most of us, because of surface judgment. 

In seeking to better your life, therefore, do not overlook 
the one great question of "Prayer, Silence and th^ir phenomena." 
The Seeking of help through the Silence (through prayer, if 
you like,) is found in some form in all ages, in all places, among 
all peoples everywhere, civilized or uncivilized, throughout the 
world. The great psychologists have all agreed that the under- 
lying principle of all desire is a sort of unconscious prayer; 
and that prayer itself is a manifestation of desire. The fact that 
this manifestation, this desiring, and that impulse to "go away 
to some lonely spot," for the purpose of praying, is found in all 
ages past, and among every known people of high or low degree, 
favors the theory and the principle that, "desiring to pray 
is a phenomena which points out a higher law. It does more than 



80 SELF MASTERY 

that — it actually reveals that higher power. It reveals that ever- 
present, everhelpful force, hidden deeply in nature. 

It is noted universally that even the most ungodly fall 
upon their knees and offer prayer to the unknown God when 
such catastrophes occur as the sinking of the * 'Titanic,' ' the 
"Martiniques," "Frisco horrors," and "Lusitanias." 

When great sorrow overtakes us, and our burden of grief 
bears us down so heavily that we feel we no longer can bear 
up under the strain, that desire to be freed from it; to be re- 
lieved of the unbearable agony, forces us to seek the helping 
hand of that mystic power which Nature has placed within 
our reach, and to which power we have access and recourse as 
a last resort. And it is as it should be — not to be used to its 
fullest only during special occasions, but always to be used con- 
stantly and wisely. 

God, (Nature), has implanted within the Soul, or placed 
within its easy reach, a power, an agency, which is capable of 
overcoming most of the great sorrows and tragedies which bow 
us down. Man's higher nature is so adjusted that it is possible 
to call into action this divine force at the moment when he needs 
help. Through the avenue of prayer, man arouses the subtle, 
latent powers of the Soul, which power seems never called into 
action or aroused in any other manner. It would seem that in 
no other way can the miracle working forces be brought into 
action. 

Intense longing, sorrow or great grief whips us into a corner, 
and at last we seek relief or help in the attitude and utterance of 
emotional prayer. 

The Soul's energies or powers to do are always present, 
held in reserve; but that kind of intense prayer which, in a 
moment often works a transforming miracle, is only possible 
during periods of intense distress of mind. It can be brought 



SELF MASTERY 81 

into action only in' the presence of mental, physical and spiritual 
attitude of prayer. This law is wise and right, for there is an- 
other law which teaches us that constant, intense, emotional 
prayer leads to fanaticism, in the same manner in which too 
much exercise of any function of the body or brain, continued 
constantly, and for long periods of time, will produce an unbal- 
anced, abnormal condition, from which it is only a step to loss 
of health and mind. 

There is a normal, natural, daily prayer attitude which 
ever leads onward and upward to illumination of the Soul, 
to acquiring wisdom, growth of perfect health, a greater love, 
and a grander light on all questions of life. Lofty aspirations, 
firm, loving, gentle desire, constantly exercised in the right 
direction and a wise persistent demand, prayer offered in 
gentle, loving, trusting simplicity, all offered in the highest and 
purest sense, will lift the body above worldly ills, the Soul 
above worldly troubles, and bless us with all the heavenly gifts 
and worldly help necessary for our comfort and happiness. Such 
prayer, offered daily while in the Silent place, will constantly 
evolve for us something higher, nobler and better. It will push us 
ever onward toward a greater success. It will gradually attune 
our bodily, mental and psychic powers to that pitch of divine 
harmony with the great eternal force of Nature so perfectly 
that, to be other than healthy, happy, successful and con- 
tented would be impossible. This must be obtained through 
knowledge of the Silence and a knowledge of the Soul's power. 

That strange, shuddering sensation which comes to so 
many from the thought of the Silence; that shrinking fear 
of loneliness on the part of many is pitiable. They are afraid 
of Self. There are people who would not have any fear of 
wild animals; who would unhesitatingly slay a lion or face 
devils, but who "fear " if left alone. They are afraid lest they 



82 SELF MASTERY 

discover themselves, meet themselves face to face in the lonely 
spot where escape is impossible. 

There are others who long to get by themselves, but who 
know not the art. Many of us never know the blessings which 
come in that sweet hour when one is all alone with one's 
self. 

Much has been written about "Entering the Silence," 
and while there are comparatively few who know its riches, 
yet it is easy, and one of the most useful and valuable of all 
accomplishments. 

Many a bitter hour and foolish deed would we avoid if 
we learned to enjoy the blessings which are offered to us out 
of the depths of the illuminating Silence. Once we have mastered 
the art, life will instantly hold a thousand new charms for us; 
and death will lose all of its fears. 

Man is afraid of that which he does not understand, and 
he understands less of himself than he does of all other things 
which he knows. When he finds himself in Solitude, he sees 
nothing there but the Solitude and himself. Not being well 
acquainted with himself, he becomes panic stricken, and wants 
to run away. 

Self is the one thing most of us do not study, examine, 
or try out; and the trying of ourselves out, all alone, by our- 
selves, in the Silence, is the only means of discovering our- 
selves. When left to ourselves, many of us become bored, 
miserable and desperate. Men left in solitary confinement 
go mad. 

Many of us are afraid of an empty house, and if left alone 
to sleep in it, we are visited with strange, weird, unaccount- 
able horrors. We would rather sleep in the open prairie with 
its tarantulas and poison reptiles, or camp on the open mountain 
top, and hear the cry of prowling animals in search of prey, 



SELF MASTERY 83 

and endure the weird noises of the birds of night, than endure 
a night in a lonely cabin. 

What a glorious transformation occurs when we begin 
to realize our divinity, and discover the realities of the golden 
Silence. It is full of beautiful things for every one. Be not 
afraid of it. Walk right up to the imaginary ogres. Look 
them square in the face, and they vanish. You will soon taste 
of the golden realities which are here in abundance. 

Every one needs some time, every day, when he can be absolutely 
alone. He ought, then, to look into his own mind, heart and soul; 
take inventory; get acquainted with himself, and become familiar 
with what he finds within. The moment we do this we find ourselves 
good company. 

It is at first impossible for one to grasp the idea of the 
vast benefits which an hour of utter Silence will bring him, 
who deliberately seeks, and honestly endeavors to find what 
it offers. When first attempting it, we are prone to feel over- 
whelmed with doubts and questions as to the mysteries which 
loom up before us. The first time one is in the desert, the still- 
ness and solitude become appalling; but it is well known to 
all who have sojourned there for a while, that the lure of the 
Silent desert with its dreams, enchantments and illusions is 
one which never ceases to draw one back again. 

Likewise, when we first "enter the Silence," we are tempted 
to forsake its stillness and its fascination and seek the com- 
panionship of friends. But like the "stay in the desert," if we 
persist, and just let our hearts fill up and run over with the strange 
mixture of thoughts until these incongruous mixtures have stilled 
themselves, then out of it will come a "beautiful quiet," a serene 
calmness; a self possession and such a joyous illuminating con- 
tentment as can come to the troubled hearts of men and women 



84 SELF MASTERY 

in no other way. The Silence is the great solver of mysteries, 
and the source of wisdom. 

After you have won the first great battle with Self, while 
in the abode of Silence, you will have won your way to the shrine 
at which you will learn the sweetest, grandest and most practical 
kind of wisdom. You will return from your first victory with 
a deeper insight into life and its mysteries than you ever had 
before. You will be far in advance of that person who is ever 
busy with "surface things." 

During all the great crises of the world, humanity has been 
compelled to turn to the lonely thinker — the man of Silence, the 
Master who came out of the Solitude. The world's great Saviors 
have all come from the deserts. The great poets from Silent Musings. 
The Gallileos, with their messages of wisdom, emerge from the 
Solitude. Every great man or woman who has blessed humanity, 
who has made the world better, happier, and wiser, has come from 
the Solitude — a child of Silence. 

Buddha, Jesus and Paul remained away in the Solitude 
for long periods before returning to the world of people with 
messages of wisdom. 

The best, truest and most useful information we ever 
get about men, life, ourselves, and the world; the beautiful 
truths of the stars, the flowers, of little children; of the sweet- 
ness of love, and the great wisdom of God all comes to us from 
"Entering the Silence," of "Being Still," and there communing 
with "our real selves." 

That we should use moderation in all things, is a truism 
of which we should never lose sight. Like every other good 
thing in life, the silence can be abused. One can brood over 
things while alone, until he becomes a crank, deranged or a 



SELF MASTERY 85 

fanatic. This is anything but the right sort of Silence, and must 
be carefully guarded against. 

One of the curses of the times is our being everlastingly 
too busy — always hurrying. Modern life is a busy whirl. 
We work and we play and we rushingly chatter away stolen 
moments as if it were our last moment — our last chance. And 
when we do have an hour of leisure, many of us devour cheap 
books, or trashy magazines, which not only rob us of that 
hour, but absolutely weaken and poison our minds, with highly 
colored and sensational brain storming absurdities, which fire 
the emotions and leave you exhausted mentally, and still hunger- 
ing for that something the Soul has failed to receive. The 
modern rush and grind make us irritable and helpless if we 
drift with the din. Many of us do not dare just sit down and 
think! We must do something ; go somewhere; read something. 
No longer do we have that "hour for rest and reflection." No 
hour to dream of the child at play, the song of the birds, the won- 
ders of Nature, or consider the "Family Altar." 

How different is the life, the contentment and genuine 
happiness of that one who still clings to that half-hour for 
Silent Musings during which he simply lets his thoughts run, 
and who enjoys watching them, and sees the great, deep, creative 
pictures of life grow before him. . 

The best thoughts we ever get are not those which we 
are taught, or of which we read, but those which come to us 
out of the depths of the Silence, just as if let down to us out 
of the great ocean of space. As they come nearer, they shine 
out before us like the star of the East poised in the heavens 
before the wise men. 



86 SELF MASTERY 

Worries and Troublesome Questions 

If you are deeply worried, try a simple remedy instead 
of seeking advice from a host of acquaintance. Just go away 
where you can be all alone; all by yourself where it is quiet; 
where you will not be disturbed. There meditate. Sit quietly 
for half an hour. Let your thoughts wander for awhile. Do not 
try to control them or think logically. You may have chosen 
the place of Solitude in your own private room; out by the 
stream in the park; by the side of a lake; on the mountain 
or in the forest. In those first few moments of Silence, you may 
seem to grow restless. If so, just be quiet. Take a new hold 
on yourself. Begin to study how you may get in communion 
with the great secret power which dwells in the Silence. Begin 
by thinking of Solitude itself, and see what thoughts will come 
to you in return. 

After you have permitted your wound up thoughts to 
chase each the other around and around aimlessly, while they 
are darting here and there, bringing this, and that picture, like 
some wild thing in the night, just let them go, and very soon 
you will begin to realize a calm stealing over you. You will 
begin to catch its meaning, and get a glimpse of things real; 
the broadness of life; the narrowness of your own views; the 
greatness of others ; the goodness of Self and the sublimity of 
your Surrounding Solitude. If by the lake, its wondrous beauty 
will impress you as never before. The trees will soon begin to 
speak to you. The flowers will whisper a new message. All 
life will smile "a smile you never knew before." Even the song 
of the birds and the hum of the insects will bring a new meaning 
to you and broaden your view of existence. Just here, let your- 



SELF MASTERY 87 

self relax more completely. Let loose your tightened muscles 
and just "be still, and know that I am God." 

Very rapidly the things over which you have worried will 
grow smaller, while the beauties of life grow larger. It all 
will have a new meaning; a new song to your ear. Slowly 
and surely the message of the Infinite will begin to dawn upon 
you. The sweetness of the Silence will have eased your tired 
brain. Gradually but certainly, the great light Eternal will 
steal over you, and your soul will see what you could not see 
before. You will find yourself "At one" with Self and Nature's 
way. Gradually the thought of your divinity will steal over 
your mind and you will feel that "you always were and you always 
will be;" that to worry and hurry only lead one into that 
whirlpool of darkness and gloom from which you later emerge 
to find yourself much "worsted" for the experience. 

Let your Soul recall what it has oft heard before — perhaps 
in ages past — "Your Soul shall live forever." 

This beautiful thought obligates you to a grander out- 
look at once. It enables you to view all eternity ahead of 
you. It shows you that it is folly to stick to the "low vaulted 
past," but it is wisdom to begin to build a mansion of beauty, 
a life of joy, a future of power and a life of happiness. Why 
not, when you have all eternity in which to build? 

But the more you build now, the more wisely and beautifully 
today, the grander will that mansion be tomorrow. Neglecting 
joys today cheats you of sweeter pleasures tomorrow. 

And just here, while still relaxed, while yet communing 
with your higher Self in the Silence, begin turning the trouble- 
some questions over which have vexed and worried you. Decide 
them first in one way. Then try vividly to imagine the results 
which would follow. Now decide another way. Gently turn 



88 SELF MASTERY 

the question over several times, so that you may get used 
to it at every angle. Then just let loose again. Relax your- 
self more fully, and ask yourself — your Soul, for the final 
answer. The answer — the right answer; the wisest answer and 
then the only answer will come and quiet your troubled heart. 

You may say "0, I just simply can not do it that way 
now," possibly because of social position, or a thousand other 
reasons may be advanced by as many persons, but you may 
be certain that to follow any other course than the 
solution which was offered in that new light, will only bring 
trouble greater later on. 

One hour of serious, honest Solitude and "perfect Sil- 
ence" will do more to rid one of moral contamination, of tramp 
thoughts, and of mental garbage than a whole month of any 
other kind of effort. 

While Communing in the Silence, when your eyes be- 
hold the beautiful grandeurs spread before you, and your 
ears hear for the first time that new song of nature, let your 
thoughts dwell for some moments on the thought that you are 
something more than a body; something more than a bundle 
of wants and woes; that within your mental frame there is 
the real you, the J; a living, thinking entity which the laws of 
material growth, death or decay can never effect. That for this 
divine something within, death is not a long period of darkness 
at the bottom of life's ladder, but only the change; an awakening 
as we step out into a new life. Death is but the turning of a 
new page of life, where the dawn breaks into morning and the 
dark shadows flee away. 

Glorious, illuminating, ever helpful Silence! When we 
have it properly cultivated it reveals to us new worlds and trans- 
forms meaningless things into sources of everlasting pleasures. 
Out of the Silence we learn some of the most beautiful and 



SELF MASTERY 89 

pleasing, as well as startling facts. Not only about ourselves 
and our own lives, but things which are going on around us, 
just under the surface. Thus we get glimpses of that which 
is below the surface. 

However, one thing is certain: it is impossible to tell you 
in this book just exactly what to do or exactly what facts you 
are going to have revealed to you while you are absorbing from 
the Solitude. // this were possible or wise, there would be no 
need of your going to all the trouble to learn it. No other Soul 
but your own can learn or experience something which Nature 
decrees you must experience or learn while dwelling in your bodily 
temple. You only, must learn for yourself. You have the word 
of all who have tried it that it is glorious, and pays handsomely 
for every effort you make in this domain. All who have honestly 
tested it, tell of its wonderfully illuminating and inspiring emo- 
tions and revelations which really satisfy the heart as nothing 
else can. It enables you soon to see, your fondest hopes becoming 
materialized into splendid realities. 

Think of the richness of the vision which came out of 
the Silence to that remarkable person, Helen Kellar, when 
she was yet a child. She was deaf and blind. When her educa- 
tion had been carried to that point at which she could com- 
municate her thoughts to others, the great Phillip Brooks began 
to tell her of God. After he had impressed her with several 
thoughts which he believed were all new to her, she replied to 
his questions, through her teacher, saying, "Yes, I knew all this 
before, but I did not know his name was God." The whole 
world knows the story of her unfoldment now. 

How did she know? There is an intuition which throbs 
eternally in the heart of all people which says that "We are 



90 SELF MASTERY 

immortal; that there is a power divine and of which we are 
a part, which will make us glad and happy if we only get in tune 
with the divine way. That Nature's way is the wisest way, 
truest, holiest, and best way. That if we look up with lofty 
aspiration and seek wise guidance from the silence, the great 
Eternal Presence of that which connects us with the Source 
Divine and inexhaustible, there will come to us peace, joy, and 
happiness." 

Out of this gentle Silence, while we instinctively cry out 
against the apparent injustice of fate, something whispers back 
from out the depths of the mysteries of Life that "In the Silence 
is to be found the reality of God's smile, which many never 
find until fate drives them into the corner of sorrow/ ' It 
tells us that, "In Silence is that place, which, if man seeks, he 
shall surely find — find the solution; the remedy; the only 
remedy which heals the broken heart and brings health, happiness 
and success." It teaches us that preserving that hour of prayer 
in which one "goes away by himself" enables one to grasp 
that everpresent, unseen, divine, helping hand which awaits 
all who seek. God is not afar off, nor hard to find. 

All phenomena of Nature and life teach us the lesson of 
system and regularity. We should have some special time 
for communion with self in Silence. When you work, work. 
When you play, play, but when you seek the Silence, remember 
to "go away to the place of Silence," alone, and "Let not thy 
right hand know what thy left hand doeth." 

The Silence and Solitude do not encourage us to be hermits. 
"There is a time for everything." There is a time to devote 



SELF MASTERY 91 

to yourself — privately, away from friends, and concealed from 
the eyes of the world. Many a splendid friendship has been 
wrecked because this principle has been violated. The soul 
needs room — must have it — in which to turn around at times. 
Try the Silence in harmony with the truths contained 
in the earlier chapters of this book. Try it for a week, at regular 
hours each day, and see what a transformation it will work 
in you. You will find that you have taken on a new supply 
of spiritual, psychic and physical energy. After an hour 
of such psychic revery, you will be refreshed bodily and have 
a clear mental atmosphere. It will be a pleasure to contemplate, 
a new source of hope, strength and light. 

That great and gentle Wordsworth knew the meaning 
of Silence. He had bathed in its transforming glories. 

Note in his verse: 

"0, gentle reader, had you in mind 

Such treasures as silent thought can bring. 
'Tis there, my reader, that you will find 

A tale in everything. 
Just one impulse from the vernal wood 

May teach you more of man, 
Of morals, of evil and of good 

Than all the sages can." 

The normal human being craves companionship, family 
life, fellowship and friendship. This is as it should be — the 
plan of the great Kingdom of Love. 

As against this natural craving, there is warning of "an 
overdose" — carrying of association too far. 

The secret of many of the most sorrowful experiences 
in human life is the outgrowth of too much friendship, too 
much constant association. 



92 SELF MASTERY 

Constant mingling with vivacious and dashing society 
develops that keen alertness, that quickness of repartee, but 
it literally robs the Soul of those stronger, nobler, more sub- 
stantial qualities of character which, once taken from us, we 
are never the same again. Such splendid qualities for which 
the better people of the whole world long are grown only 
in the Shadow of Silence and Solitude. The glare of the city 
light©, night after night, with its dashing crowd, with its never 
ceasing stimulus of alert companionship, seem to offer many 
pleasing and fascinating charms for the moment, and especially 
for the fair sex, but it literally robs life of its sweetest things 
and leaves the heart and soul hungry and sad. Empty of all 
save regrets and despondency. But alas, this is usually discover- 
ed too late. If any doubt this, ask those who have had experi- 
ence. Those who have roamed the world and mingled with all 
the world had to offer. The stronger and more substantial 
traits of manhood and womanhood which are required to meet 
the great crises and tragedies of life have no chance to unfold 
within the soul who is denied "time for being alone." It pre- 
pares us to meet our own individual fate with a smile, strong 
in the presence of reverses and sorrow, and brave in the hour 
of any misfortune. In a word, it helps us as nothing else to be 
triumphant, and to master Self. He who is master of Self will 
be master of many others. It fortifies one with a serene calmness, 
courage and a poise which can never rise to the Soul's surface 
if that one drifts on with the chattering, the witty, butterfly 
crowd. Such a life crushes out the last spark of possible unfold- 
ment while in this incarnation. If you doubt this, look about 
you and your doubt will quickly flee. 

Get acquainted with the Divine Inner Self. You will have 
to face every great crisis of life alone. You were born alone. You 



SELF MASTERY 93 

are left to face trouble alone. Why not get acquainted with your- 
self? There is but one way, the Silent Hour. When you really 
know yourself, great sorrows and life's tragedies lose nearly 
all their terrors. It enables you to unfold higher qualities of 
character and discover wisdom of Self and of others; about 
life, and about God, which gives a peace, a knowledge, a poise, 
a grace, and a power for which the whole world is hungering. 
You will be envied by few, but loved by all. This little treatise 
gives you the foundation work. Further research is a matter of 
choice with you. 

The Special Hour 

In seeking to unfold the highest within us, and in un- 
folding for the special purpose of attaining a certain desired 
result, whether in happiness for self, some special change in 
the life of a friend, or whether it be pertaining to a greater 
degree of financial success, in health, in love; success in develop- 
ing the noblest qualities in character, psychic talents, the powers 
of mental creations, one of the most valuable practices and in- 
dispensable requisites is to have a regular time each day during 
which we seek absolute silence and relaxation. Often becoming 
perfectly quiet with the entire body relaxed, let the soul con- 
template its own divinity and really try to feel more appreciation 
for the great beauties of life. Endeavor to hold this mental 
and spiritual attitude for ten minutes and then lovingly and 
wisely demand of the great Unseen Creative Source and Supply 
that which you seek. Any sort of demanding or kind of prayer 
which is minus this divine attitude will never do. No kind of ment- 
al gymnastics are right without this religious mental attitude; 
but by realizing your own relation to the Great Divinity Itself, 
plus a sort of joyous, elevated, divine exhilaration, will surely 
enable any one to gain that which he seeks. 



SELF MASTERY 94 

Take a few hours a week and get acquainted with your- 
self, and you will find yourself fairer than the rose, and worthy 
of a thousandfold better consideration than you have bestowed 
upon yourself. 



The Normal Soul seeks needed sympathy as the growing 
bulb craves sunlight. Both are necessary to the fulfillment of 
the great plan of life. When that craving for true sympathy 
is not met with a generous response, that Soul is dwarfed, and 
one cannot smile as one whose life plan is properly fed. 



Even Jesus craved sympathy. During the darkest hour 
of his life, just preceding the tragedy of Gethsemane, he said 
to those of whom he rightfully could claim sympathy, "Could 
you not remain and watch with me, one hour?" 



To sacrifice a true and tried friend for any personal ad- 
vantage or position, is eventually to rob yourself instead of your 
friend. 



To seek out that which is good and noble in man, is to 
search for God himself. 



Man's first great duty shines out like the brightest star. 
His first observations teach him that love soothes and heals 
the ugly wounds; that tender considerations are as beautifying 
to the one on whom bestowed, as lilies beautify the spot which 
they adorn. 



95 SELF MASTERY 

If you have no love for God's creatures, how can you 
expect much of God's love shown you? If you despise any 
of God's children, how can you hope truly to love God? 



The great divine guide-post for the next thousand years 
will read, "As a man thinketh"; "the starry heavens above"; 
"the great moral law within." 



The soul feeds on faithfulness, admiration, hope, love. 
If one's love is dwarfed and withered, it mars and shrinks the 
whole life. To have a bosom friend whom we can trust, and to 
whom we can pour out our griefs, be they great or small, to 
whom we can safely confide our hopes, doubts and fears, this 
will take all the bitterness from the battles of life. 



Sympathy increases gladness, diminishes sorrow, and 
makes stronger and nobler him who gives of wise sympathy. 



The only thing in life which is offered to us free, is God, 
love, and knowledge of your own soul. 

FINIS. 



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